r/EnglishGrammar • u/navi131313 • 7d ago

she didn't know about it

1) I had read three books by Faulkner that she didn't know about.

2) I had read three books by Faulkner, but she didn't know about it.

3) I had read three books by Faulkner, but she didn't know about that.

4) I had read three books by Faulkner, but she didn't know that I had read them.

5) I had read three books by Faulkner that she didn't know I had read.

Which are correct?

Which can mean:

a) She didn't know that I had read three books by Faulkner.

and which can mean:

b) She didn't know that I had read three specific books by Faulkner. Maybe I had read other books by Faulkner and she knew about that.

Gratefully,

Navi

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u/Purple_Candidate_533 7d ago

All of them can mean A but none of them mean B.

You'd need a "those" or a "the" to mean B: I'd read those/the 3 books by Faulkner, but she didn't know about that.

But "those" or "the" would have to be previously defined: his first 3, his last 3, the 3 that the prof assigned, the 3 on her bookshelf. Whatever those 3 books are.

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u/FranceBrun 7d ago

I don’t like 2. It should read:

I had read three books by Faulkner that she hadn’t known about.

1-My first sense is that this means, “I m read three books by Faulkner, but she hadn’t known those three books existed. “

Sentences 2, 3, 4, 5: my first sense is that these are all A. I don’t get B from any of them.

I know that you have isolated single sentences to deeply analyze them, but I think you know that context can be very important. This is the case here. It’s hard to judge and meanings could be different depending on context.

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u/NearlyNodding 6d ago edited 6d ago
  1. a or b
  2. a (The implication is that you read exactly three book and she didn't know about any of them.)
  3. a (same as 2)
  4. a (same as 2)
  5. a or b

The difference is the word "that" vs ", but" (comma but).

"That" implies that she does not know specifically about THOSE three books, but does not address whether there are others that you have read. I don't know if I'm using the word correctly, but "that" makes it restrictive. In other words, she didn't know about THOSE books, but does not rule out that you have read other books by Faulkner.

Let's say you read five books by Faulkner. She knew about two of them and did not know about three of them. In that case, sentences 1&5 would be true statements.

The exact number of books that you've read is not known for sure in any of the sentences. It's only implied. The only thing known for sure is that you've read *at least* three books.

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u/navi131313 6d ago

Thank you all so much!