Little did I know

Little Did I Know(Meaning and Usage)

Vocabulary / By

“Little did I know” is an expression in English that you can use when you want to show that you were unaware of something that would occur at a later time. 

It is a way of reflecting that you did not have all the information at some past time.

You could not have anticipated the outcome.

Little did I know, when I started learning English, how many friends I would make.

Little Did I Know in a Sentence(Examples)

When I started talking to my co-worker, little did I know that we would develop into a relationship.

Little did I know that he was cheating on me the whole time.

Little did I know that this business would be such a big success.

Do you need a comma after “Little did I know”?

If the sentence has more than one clause, then you need to use a common.

Little did I know, when I came to this city, I would end up designing a building.

If you only need one clause(part of a sentence), you can use “that” and you do not need a comma.

Little did I know that she was from the same country as me.

What can I say instead of Little did I know?

Some expressions that you can use instead of “Little did I know”:

I was unaware at that time….

I had no clue that…..

I had no idea that….

I hadn’t been made aware….

I was completely unaware…

Is “Little did I know” an idiom?

No,”Little did I know” is not an idiom because the meaning of the phrase is deducible from the words. 

Little did I know(Usage)

Little did I know is often used in an ironic/joking way.

“Little did I know she would be the one!”

It is also common in older books as a way to begin a story.

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