Meaning & use
little did I know
Last updated
Meaning
phrasefixed phraseliteraryformal
Used to say that someone had no idea about something important that was going to happen.
Grammar: Starts a sentence and is followed by a clause with inverted subject and verb, e.g. 'Little did I know that she would become my wife.'
Patterns
- little did I know that ...
- little did I know what/who/how ...
Little did I know that the quiet man sitting next to me on the plane would later become my boss.
I agreed to help with the project, but little did I know how much work it would involve.
Little did I know that the letter I almost threw away contained a check for a thousand dollars.
Common combinations
- little did I know that
- Little did I know that the meeting would change my whole career.
- little did I know how
- Little did I know how difficult it would be to find a parking space.
- little did I know what
- Little did I know what was waiting for me at home.
- little did I know who
- Little did I know who had sent the mysterious package.
Synonyms and how they differ
- I had no idea
- This is a more direct and less dramatic way to say the same thing, and it does not require inversion.
- unbeknownst to me
- This means 'without my knowledge' and is used to talk about something happening without someone knowing, but it does not emphasize the surprise as strongly.
Commonly confused: little did I know or little do I know?
little did I know vs little do I know
This is not standard English. The phrase is always used in the past tense: 'little did I know'.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'little did I know' correctly?
Choose one answer.
The correct form is 'little did I know' followed by a clause with inverted subject and verb. Option 0 follows this pattern. Option 1 has the wrong word order. Option 2 uses 'knew' instead of 'know' after 'did'. Option 3 mixes tenses incorrectly.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “little did I know”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.