Mauro Carvalho Chehab <[email protected]> writes: > As a non-native English speaker, "had better know" looks really > weird on my eyes, as, at least for me, "know" is a verb. > > Heh, I just discovered today by looking on a dictionary: > > https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/know > > That know can informally be used as a noun (a shortcut for > knowledge?).
"know" is a verb as used in the sentence in question too. > For me as a non-native English speaker, when one writes: > > They "most likely know" (know here is a verb) > > or: > They "had better knowledge" (knowledge is a name) > > Things become clearer. But neither of those say the same thing. Read "had better know" as "really should know" and you get a lot closer. I guess I didn't realize that it was such a strange construction. Languages are fun. jon
