Page:Graimear na Gaedhilge.djvu/308

Rh and  all meaning “I know;” but these three expressions have three different meanings which must be carefully distinguished.

Whenever the English verb “know” means “to know by heart” or “to know the character of a person,” “to know by study,” &c., use the phrase

Whenever “know” means “to recognise,” “to know by appearance,” “to know by sight,” &c., use the phrase This phrase is usually restricted to persons.

When “know” means “to know by mere information,” “to happen to know,” as in such a sentence as “Do you know did John come in yet?” use the phrase, e.g.

As a rule young students experience great difficulty in selecting the phrases to be used in a given case. This difficulty arises entirely from not striving to grasp the real meaning of the English verb. For those who have already learned French it may be useful to state that as a general rule corresponds to je sais and  to je connais.

Je le connais mais je ne le sais pas. I know him by sight but I do not know his character. “Do you know