as
That, in older rural talk: "I knowed as he would."
Updated September 21, 2026
as pronunciation
/az/
Meaning
Here as does the job of that after verbs like know, say, or reckon. "I knowed as he would" means "I knew that he would." It is not the comparison as in "as tall as." Listen for it after thinking or saying verbs.
How folks use it
- “I knowed as he would show up late.”
- “She said as the creek was up past the bridge.”
Origin and etymology
An older complementizer that competed with that in English. Standard writing mostly settled on that, but dialect speech in Britain and parts of the American South and Midland kept as in sentences like "I don't know as I agree." Dickens even put the pattern in character dialogue.
Frequently asked questions
Is this the same as in comparisons?
No. This as stands in for that. Comparison as ("as big as a barn") is a different use of the same spelling.