As You May Know

When talking about something that the listener might know about already, it's better to introduce it with an expression, such as: "as you (may) know" or "as you (may have) heard".

#1) "As you know" / "As you heard" -- You can use these two expressions when the listener knows the information you will give. Also, the listener knows that you know that they know the information. Including this is helpful because it lets them know you're not just repeating information. Also, you will probably give them additional information.

Example: "As you know. I'm quitting my job next week."
"As you heard, we're going to have company evaluations tomorrow. "

#2) "As you may know" / "As you may have heard" / "As you may be aware" -- This has the same function as the other expressions. However, in this case, you're not sure if the listener already knows. It's also possible that you're speaking to more than one person; some people who know the information, and some people who don't. This is a safe expression because you won't embarass yourself by repeating information, and you won't embarass yourself by claiming the listener knows already when they really don't know.

Example: "As you may know, Alfred is in the hospital."
"As you may have heard, the neighbor's dog is missing."
"As you may be aware, Julia and I have split up."


Additional Expressions: "As you probably know", "As you've probably heard", "As you're probably aware", "As you undoubtedly know"... -- The meaning of these is close to the others, so you can safely follow the logic.

Best of luck!
~~Lance