Quote:
Originally Posted by masaegu
We use わかりません incomparably more often than 知りません.
Answer with 知りません to these questions and you will sound very foreign. Say 知りません at the risk of sounding indifferent to the content of the other person's question. Say 知りません at the risk of sounding like you are saying "I couldn't care less about that."
In conclusion, we rarely say 知りません just to mean "I don't know (something)". Use it when it's only natural that you don't know something. In other words, use it when you naturally have all the reasons to not know something like a stranger's email address.
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Is it true though, that when someone gives you some information you didn't know before, and obviously, they've not prompted you with a verb, you should use 知る not 分かる。
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B: あの木の上にある物を見えますか。あれは「森の鳥」と 言うキノコです。おいしいです。
A: そうですか。知りませんでした。