behind or back?

[loveydovey]

If I say " Looking from behind, I didn't know it was you", does it sound alright? Or should I say " I only saw your back, so I didn't know it was you". which is right?

 

[stuartnz]

I'm not a teacher, but I find the second one clearer and simpler.

 

[banderas]

what about this:

I did not see your face so I had no idea it was you

to keep it simple;-)

 

[David L.]

You could use your first sentence in this way:
"Looking at him from behind, I didn't know who it was you"

 

[stuartnz]

You could use your first sentence in this way:
"Looking at him from behind, I didn't know who it was you"

"I didn't know who it was you"?

 

[marksandler]

I would say that either of your responses would be correct. Depending upon how you stress your words, you could express various emotions to this response, eg. denial or surprise.

David, I would drop the final you. It doesn't make sense, at least to this gringo

I might say, "From (my vantage point, where I was, my location, ...), I couldn't tell who it was.".

 

[Amigos4]

David, I would drop the final you. It doesn't make sense, at least to this gringo .

Mark,

Welcome to the forum!

I'm confident David made a typo when he included the final 'you'.

Cheers,
Amigo

 

[marksandler]

Thanks for the info... I thought so based upon Stuartnz post.

 

[jctgf]

what about "looking from behind, I didn't know it was you." ?
thanks

 

[Anglika]

Or even

"I didn't recognize you from [behind/the back]."

 

[EnglishRyan]

Hey guys,

I would reverse it and say:

"I didn't know it was you because I was looking at you from behind."

Good question!

Ryan

 

[jctgf]

hi,

could I say "I didn't know it was you from behind" ?

thanks.