Goodman  +  573795 Mon, 06 Oct 08 04:57 PM Anon, This is my last attemp. So far you have not produced much in the way of sentences / context to prove your "durative" use of the verb "know" to supprot your persistence.  I've never written so. I wrote "I stopped knowing it". Do you really believe this sounds right? But I surely can equate "I forgot the password" to "I don't know the password". Really!   Goodman Joined on Mon, Nov 7 2005 Senior Member 3,816 The name says it all! Verbs

	nona the brit  +  575455 Sat, 11 Oct 08 02:44 PM I agree with Goodman here. It's certainly not standard English, which is not to say you can't find the odd example of its use, but generally, no. It's a feature I strongly associate with Indian English only. nona the brit Joined on Wed, Sep 22 2004 England Veteran Member 11,713 The name says it all.

	Grammar Geek  +  575559 Sat, 11 Oct 08 10:26 PM Anon, language evolves naturally. I've never heard of a concentrated effort to "attack" a single word, let alone an entire tense. There's nothing wrong with the continuous, and it's alive and well with verbs that naturally take the continuous. "To know" is simply not one of those verbs.   Grammar Geek Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006 Veteran Member 19,652 Barbara, who answers in American English. My housekeeping skills attest to the truth of the second law of thermodynamics: Left to themselves, things get more and more random! Verbs, Tenses

	Goodman  +  575625 Sun, 12 Oct 08 05:37 AM Anon, We don't know much about your English background but if your intent was to solicit agreement to your particular usage on "have been knowing..", it does not look like you are going to get lucky. It's not a matter of being right or wrong. Rather, it's necessary to correct incorrect usage for those who have come to the forum for help. I actually have decided to ignore your persistence, but you seem to try to find a way to prove to me and others that you actually know better. Friend, have failed!.. I had said in earlier post.You will find English of all level, from the very terrible to excellent, it's all there. Song lyrics can not be used as a gauge for correct usage. You need to recognize what good English should sound like from the the bad variety, if you still want to improve yours. Best of luck! Goodman

	Goodman  +  575630 Sun, 12 Oct 08 05:55 AM Oh Anon, There is one more comment.. You said you would like to continue with an intellectual discussion, but not with me? May I ask you, are we talking about the same brand of intellect? So far, you have not gathered much in the way of support. Goodman

	David  +  933316 Thu, 08 Oct 09 09:43 AM Neither of the two versions you gave are correct.  The correct version is 'I have known him for some time' or 'I have known him for years'. David Joined on Sat, Mar 8 2003 Regular Member 664