knowed
Very low / NonstandardDialectal / Colloquial / Nonstandard / Archaic / Child speech
Definition
Meaning
A nonstandard, dialectal, or archaic past tense and past participle of the verb "know".
Used in some regional dialects, historical contexts, or child speech to indicate past knowledge or familiarity with a person, fact, or skill.
Linguistics
Semantic Notes
"Knowed" is not part of Standard English. The standard past tense and past participle is "knew" and "known," respectively. Its use often carries connotations of informality, rural dialects (e.g., Appalachian, some British rural dialects), or lack of education when used outside its legitimate dialectal context.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
Can be found in some traditional rural dialects in both the UK (e.g., West Country, Northern England) and the US (e.g., Appalachian, Southern). It is equally nonstandard in both main varieties.
Connotations
Strongly marked as nonstandard. May be used deliberately in fiction to represent rustic, old-fashioned, or uneducated characters.
Frequency
Extremely rare in edited writing or formal speech. Its occurrence is almost entirely confined to deliberate dialect representation or historical texts.
Vocabulary
Collocations
Grammar
Valency Patterns
[Subject] knowed [Object] (e.g., I knowed the answer)[Subject] knowed [Clause] (e.g., I knowed he was coming)[Subject] knowed about [Object] (e.g., She knowed about the plan)Vocabulary
Synonyms
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms
Usage
Context Usage
Business
Unacceptable. Would be seen as a significant error.
Academic
Unacceptable. Would be marked as incorrect.
Everyday
Potentially heard in specific regional dialects but generally corrected to "knew" in standard conversation.
Technical
Unacceptable in any technical documentation or communication.
Examples
By Part of Speech
verb
British English
- "I knowed him when he were just a lad," the old farmer said.
- "He never knowed the truth of it," she remarked in her dialect.
American English
- "I done knowed it was a bad idea," he drawled.
- "We shoulda knowed better than to go there," she said.
Examples
By CEFR Level
- The little boy said, "I knowed the answer!" but his teacher corrected him.
- In the old story, the man knowed a secret.
- My grandfather sometimes uses words like "knowed" because of his rural upbringing.
- The character in the novel said, "I wish I'd knowed you were coming."
- Linguists note that "knowed" is a persistent nonstandard form found in several English dialects.
- The author employed "knowed" to authentically portray the speaker's Appalachian origins.
- The use of hypercorrect forms like "knowed" often stems from a conscious but incomplete grasp of standard verb paradigms.
- While "knowed" is stigmatised in prescriptive grammar, its existence is well-documented in diachronic and sociolinguistic studies.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Think: "I KNOW it's wrong, but in some dialects, they KNOW-ED it." The standard form has no -ED: know -> knew -> known.
Conceptual Metaphor
KNOWING IS SEEING (e.g., "I see what you mean") — but "knowed" disrupts this standard form.
Watch out
Common Pitfalls
Translation Traps (for Russian speakers)
- Direct translation of Russian past tense formation (знать -> знал) might tempt learners to add -ed to all verbs incorrectly.
- Mistaking it for a regular verb pattern due to overgeneralisation of the -ed rule.
Common Mistakes
- Using "knowed" in standard writing or speech.
- Confusing it with the standard past participle "known" (e.g., "I have knowed" instead of "I have known").
- Assuming it is an acceptable informal variant like "gonna" for "going to."
Practice
Quiz
What is the standard English past tense of "know"?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, but it is nonstandard. It is a real dialectal or archaic variant of the past tense of "know," but it is not used in Standard English.
No. It would be marked as grammatically incorrect. Always use "knew" for the simple past and "known" for the past participle.
It is a feature of certain regional dialects (e.g., some in the UK and US) and is also common in child language acquisition as an overgeneralisation of the regular "-ed" past tense rule.
It is "correct" only within the specific dialect systems that use it. In all contexts requiring Standard English, it is incorrect.