Sentence Starting

I am considering the following starting for a sentence and I would like a native to tell whether it is correct and natural in English or not: "Knowing of the many problems.....". Thanks.

It may be. We need the whole sentence to tell you if it works for your context.

It is just the starting of a sentence: Knowing the many problems of the agricultural sector, it would be a great idea to..........".

By the way, "knowing" without the preposition "of".

It ends up being a misplaced modifier.
Who knows this? That person needs to follow immediately after the "Knowing..." part but you have "it" there.

That is why we need full sentences.

Barb_D said:

It ends up being a misplaced modifier. Who knows this? That person needs to follow immediately after the "Knowing..." part but you have "it" there. That is why we need full sentences.

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"We" know, and it is a way to start a sentence. We know the many problems of the agricultural sector, so it would be a great idea to (take a decision, do this or that, etc.). Is it correct and natural English or not?

I have found this example in Internet: "Knowing the many great journalists struggle with addiction, it always was so important to me that Carr was all of himself to the world." (In this case the subject was "I", but it is the same usage, I guess).

AlbertBel said:

It is just the starting of a sentence: Knowing the many problems of the agricultural sector, it would be a great idea to..........".

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How about replacing knowing with with?

Tdol said:

How about replacing knowing with with?

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No, because the issue is whether the expression is both correct and natural in English or not. In other languages it would be correct, but I am not an English native. On the other hand, "knowing" refers to a reality or situation, our knowledge of something as a circumstance to act in some way or take a decision. Sometimes the "knowing" describes a popular or general knowledge about something.

AlbertBel said:

"Knowing the many great journalists struggle with addiction, it always was so important to me that Carr was all of himself to the world." .

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I took this sentence from twitter (https://twitter.com/chrisgeidner/status/566100432440029184). Is it correct and normal English?

As Barb said, the person who knows needs to follow the gerund clause of 'knowing X'. Your partial sentence is misleading, because you ended with 'it'. However, in the example you cite, 'it' is not the subject doing the knowing. 'Me' (the narrator in the sentence) is the person who knows.

So yes, you could say something like this:

Knowing a full example sentence, I was able to answer the question.

Skrej said:

As Barb said, the person who knows needs to follow the gerund clause of 'knowing X'. Your partial sentence is misleading, because you ended with 'it'. However, in the example you cite, 'it' is not the subject doing the knowing. 'Me' (the narrator in the sentence) is the person who knows. So yes, you could say something like this: Knowing a full example sentence, I was able to answer the question.

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Now it is clear to me. Thanks very much.

Finally. Glad you got it.

Skrej said:

As Barb said, the person who knows needs to follow the gerund clause of 'knowing X'.

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I think it is the 'participle clause'.
(Other than that, I agree with you.)

:-D

The one from the internet reflects common usage and I may SAY something like that myself but in careful writing, I would write something like "I find it important," not "it's important to me" following that beginning.

The phrase "partiiple clause" is a misnomer. They are phrases.

I understand what you mean.
There seem to be two types of clauses:
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/clauses-finite-and-non-finite

Not for me. Grammar is confusing enough without adding an entire new theory.