[General] Can something exist "unaware to ourselves"?

[Pansch]

I would like to write "something exists unaware to ourselves". I am just not sure if "unaware" can even be used in this sense, or whether I should use "unnoticed by" or something similar instead.

Thanks for any thoughts on that!

 

[emsr2d2]

I would like to write "something exists unaware to ourselves". I am just not sure if "unaware" can even be used in this sense, or whether I should use "unnoticed by" or something similar instead.

Thanks for any thoughts on that!

"Something" doesn't go with "ourselves" here. Something could (possibly) "exist, unaware of itself". I guess a chair exists, unaware of itself but that's because a chair simply doesn't have awareness.

Can something exist without our being aware of it? Yes, of course. There are millions of things in the world which exist without my being aware of them. Other things may exist in my immediate vicinity and go unnoticed by me.

 

[BobK]

:up: There is - in Br Eng - the word 'unbeknown', but its pretty archaic. Even more archaic is 'unbeknownst'. But 'without my being aware' or 'without my knowledge' are more commonly used.

b

 

[emsr2d2]

Archaic or not, I use "unbeknownst to me/her/etc" very frequently.

 

[bhaisahab]

Archaic or not, I use "unbeknownst to me/her/etc" very frequently.

I use it too.

 

[BobK]

So do I, but always in a jocular way. I can't imagine an EFL or ESOL student would ever - in an exam - be expected to use it. In fact I use it in the collocation 'all unbeknownst' - which smacks to me of Victorian melodrama.

b

 

[emsr2d2]

I wouldn't recommend a student using it either but I don't use it in a jocular way at all. I regularly use it simply instead of "Without my knowledge ..."

 

[konungursvia]

I use it three.