"since" / "from" childhood

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AmerikaMagyar

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1. I've known him since childhood.
2. I've known him from childhood.

Do these two mean the same thing?
 

Fillet

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1. I've known him since childhood.
2. I've known him from childhood.

Do these two mean the same thing?

~not a teacher~

Not really.

The first statement means you've known him, probably not only by name but by his personality as well, since you were kids until the present.

The second one means you've met and known him (his name, shall we say) when you were kids.
 

Fillet

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Yes, they can mean the same thing. The first is more common.

I thought if you use "from" it'll have different meaning.
 

AmerikaMagyar

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Yes, they can mean the same thing. The first is more common.

Do they mean "I've known him since I was a child" or "I've known him since he was a child"?
 

Raymott

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Do they mean "I've known him since I was a child" or "I've known him since he was a child"?
I was almost going to suggest that the first one might be used for "since we were children together" while the second might be more common for "from when he was a child". There might be a tendency to use them that way in some places but, they generally both mean "since we were children together".
If you want to be clear, just say "I've known him since he was a child", or "I've known him since I was a child", or "I've known him since we were children."

No, I've never heard the implication that Fillet suggested.
 

Munch

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I was almost going to suggest that the first one might be used for "since we were children together" while the second might be more common for "from when he was a child". There might be a tendency to use them that way in some places but, they generally both mean "since we were children together".
If you want to be clear, just say "I've known him since he was a child", or "I've known him since I was a child", or "I've known him since we were children."

No, I've never heard the implication that Fillet suggested.

I agree Raymott, but maybe Fillet is thinking of a sentence like:

"I know him from my childhood." With the "have" it means something like what Fillet said before:

You've met and knew him when you were kids.
 

Raymott

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I agree Raymott, but maybe Fillet is thinking of a sentence like:

"I know him from my childhood." Without [?] the "have" it means something like what Fillet said before:

You've met and knew him when you were kids.
Wouldn't you say that "I know him from childhood" implies that you knew him when you were both children, and that you lost track of each other until now? And 'I've known him since ...' means you've known him continuously since childhood.
In fact, "I've known him from childhood" is probably not grammatical; it requires 'since'; just as "I know him since childhood" requires 'from'.
 

Munch

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Wouldn't you say that "I know him from childhood" implies that you knew him when you were both children, and that you lost track of each other until now? And 'I've known him since ...' means you've known him continuously since childhood.

Sorry, you are correct, I meant to say without "have". In retrospect my post was a little unclear. I was trying to say what you said, that is:

"I know him from childhood" implies that you knew him when you were both children, and that you lost track of each other until now? And 'I've known him since ...' means you've known him continuously since childhood.
 
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