You may say the boy should have known............(more/better), but I do not think he was entirely to blame.
CAN I USE BOTH, MORE AND BETTER, WITHOUT ANY CHANGE IN MEANING? IF THERE WERE ANY CHANGES IN MEANING COULD YOU PLEASE EXPLAIN THEM?
Thanks so much.
know better
to be smart or sensible enough not to do something
▪ You walked home alone? Don't you know better (than that)? ▪ She'll know better than to trust them again. [=she will not trust them again] ▪ There's no excuse for his behavior. He's old enough to know better. ▪ Don't blame him. He's just a child and he doesn't know (any) better. [=he is too young, inexperienced, etc., to be expected to behave properly]
Originally Posted by dilodi83
NOT A TEACHER
(1) Sunsunmoon has given us a really good explanation of "to
know better."
(2) I think that maybe (maybe!!!) the difference is that "better"
is an adverb that intensifies the power of the verb; "more" is a
noun (or pronoun?) that is the object of the verb.
(3) Let me give you a very sad but true example.
(4) Two British gentlemen recently visited an American city.
They decided to visit a certain part of that city. A 16-year-old
boy killed them.
(a) Sadly, they did not know better than to visit certain
parts of that city -- especially at night.
(b) If they had known more about the crime problems in that
city, they would probably have avoided that neighborhood.
Respectfully yours,
James
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