Know or have known?

[Nightmare85]

Hello guys,
Which sentence is correct?
I know her longer than you do.
I have known her longer than you have.
Of course you can't say:
I know her for some weeks.
(At least it doesn't make much sense.)
But is it the same case for the above situation?

Cheers!

 

[Barb_D]

Hello guys,
Which sentence is correct?
I know her longer than you do. :cross:
I have known her longer than you have. :up:
Of course you can't say:
I know her for some weeks.
(At least it doesn't make much sense.)
But is it the same case for the above situation?

Cheers!

Do you see why?

 

[Nightmare85]

Thank you.

Well, I guess it's because we say, "I've known him/her" if you want to tell others a time span!?

Cheers!

 

[Barb_D]

Right - time span.

"I know her BETTER than you do" is okay, though. It's about this moment in time.

 

[2006]

Hello guys,
Which sentence is correct?
I know her longer than you do. The meaning of this sentence is very clear.
I know her (for a) longer (time) than you do. (present tense for a present fact)
I know her better (than you do), but you know her longer. (present facts)

I have known her longer than you have. This may be more common, but is the first sentence wrong?


Cheers!

2006

 

[Barb_D]

I'd say yes, it's wrong.

 

[Nightmare85]

I think we can say:

I play tennis longer than you do.
-> You still play tennis.
I've played tennis longer than you have.
-> Pretty much the same meaning.

I know her longer than you do.
-> You only get somebody to know once. (Usually).
-> That's why I believe this sentence is not meaningful.
I have known her longer than you have.
-> This is okay!

Does this help?:
I have been knowing her for some weeks.
Makes no sense, even if, it would mean something like:
I've been trying to get her to know for some weeks.

I'm not sure if the last example makes it clear, though...

Cheers!

 

[Barb_D]

I think we can say:

I play tennis longer than you do.

This works only if every week, you play for two hours and I play for only one. You play longer than I do (habitually).

Otherwise, I've played is the version you want.

 

[2006]

I know her longer than you do.
-> You only get somebody to know once. (Usually). "longer" doesn't relate to how many times. It relates to duration.
-> That's why I believe this sentence is not meaningful. It is meaningful.

2006

 

[Nightmare85]

Okay, let's try again:
Would you say:
I know her for a long time.
Or:
I have known her for a long time.
:?:

I believe you would not use sentence 1.

I play tennis for a long time.
I have played tennis for a long time.
Both sentences are okay, depending on what you want to say.

You can say, "I know her.", yes, this makes it clear that you know her.
But how can you compare whether you know her longer than someone does?
You can say, "I know her better than you do.", but certainly not, "I know her longer than you do."
This is why only "I have known her longer than you have" makes sense to me.
Q: How long have you known her?
Q: How well do you know her?
A: See above.

Cheers!

 

[Raymott]

Originally Posted by Nightmare85
Hello guys,
Which sentence is correct?
I know her longer than you do. The meaning of this sentence is very clear.
I know her (for a) longer (time) than you do. (present tense for a present fact)
I know her better (than you do), but you know her longer. (present facts)

I have known her longer than you have. This may be more common, but is the first sentence wrong?


Cheers!
2006

I'd say it's wrong.

"I know her better than you." refers to the present
"I know her longer than you." refers to the past as well. 'Longer' is an adverb of time. We don't say, "I know her for two weeks."

Yes, it's possible to express most (all?) concepts with one tense plus adverbs. But we simply don't talk that way. This is not proper English.

 

[corum]

I know her longer than you do. :cross:
I have known her longer than you have. :tick:

The time adverbial (longer than...) in your sentence triggers the application of the present perfect. There are adverbials that do not like the simple present.

 

[corum]

I know her better (now).
I have known her longer. -- This sentence says that the time span, which frames the state of my knowing her, starts in the past and extends to the present moment --> present perfect

The concept of the simple present is incongruous with the time reference of the temporal element in your sentence.