He had known him since he was a child vs He had known him since he'd been a child

Both phrases are correct, but they convey slightly different nuances. The first phrase 'he had known him since he was a child' is more straightforward and commonly used. The second phrase 'he had known him since he'd been a child' is also correct but may sound a bit more formal or literary.

Last updated: March 22, 2024

He had known him since he was a child

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English.

This phrase is a simple and clear way to express that someone has known another person since the time when the latter was a child.

Show examples from the web [+]

I have known him since he was a resident here at Washington.
I've known him since he was a law student.
I have known him since he were married.
I've known him since he was young, and he was always kind of soft.
Of course, I've known him since he was just a man.
I've known him since he was this big.
I've known him since he was a teenager selling boom boxes from the back of a stolen truck.
Well, you've known him since he was 12 - you wanted to believe.
I have known him since he was 17 But he has such a makantes appearance that he must be.
Now you know Alex, you've known him since he's a kid.
I have known him since the day he was born obviously.
I'm known him since law school.
I've known him since Ukraine.
Fine, you've known him since Cub Scouts.
Mike's known him since they were both 16.
Fred, I've known him since 16.
I've known him since I was a newcomer so I can't help it.
Mr. Lewicki, I admire your loyalty to my friend Daniel Pierce, but I have known him since you were wearing Huggies.
His name is Carl, and I have known him since fourth grade.
I've known him since 10th grade.

Alternatives:

he had known him since he was young
he had known him since childhood
he had known him since he was a kid
he had known him since he was little

He had known him since he'd been a child

This phrase is correct but may sound slightly more formal or literary.

This phrase is also correct and conveys the same meaning as the first one, but it may sound a bit more formal or literary due to the contraction 'he'd been.'

Show examples from the web [+]

I have known him since he was a resident here at Washington.
I've known him since he was a law student.
I have known him since he were married.
I've known him since he was young, and he was always kind of soft.
Of course, I've known him since he was just a man.
I've known him since he was this big.
I've known him since he was a teenager selling boom boxes from the back of a stolen truck.
Well, you've known him since he was 12 - you wanted to believe.
I have known him since he was 17 But he has such a makantes appearance that he must be.
Now you know Alex, you've known him since he's a kid.
I have known him since the day he was born obviously.
I'm known him since law school.
I've known him since Ukraine.
Fine, you've known him since Cub Scouts.
Mike's known him since they were both 16.
Fred, I've known him since 16.
I've known him since I was a newcomer so I can't help it.
Mr. Lewicki, I admire your loyalty to my friend Daniel Pierce, but I have known him since you were wearing Huggies.
His name is Carl, and I have known him since fourth grade.
I've known him since 10th grade.

Alternatives:

he had known him since he was a child
he had known him since he was young
he had known him since childhood
he had known him since he was a kid

What Our Customers Are Saying

Our customers love us! We have an average rating of 4.79 stars based on 283,125 votes.
Also check out our 2,100+ reviews on TrustPilot (4.9).

"Thank you!"
Sachi Nakama July 2024
"I have literally been through chat, PI, claude, bard and bing and I got conflicting answers! Thank you! Human intelligence reigns!"
Retha July 2024
"Faster than AI"
CYNTHIA December 2023
"This was very helpful and I personally think this site is the best."
Kaden October 2023
"It was extremely thorough and very helpful!"
imperialelisa October 2023
"7 years without any disappointment. Always 100% satisfied. You guys are the best in the world at what you do. Thank you so much :)"
Zubair Alam October 2023
"In a world of text messages and online communication, this is great to have as a live tool. Thank you."
Selena October 2023
"Without textranch I would be stuck!"
宏祐 October 2023
"Accuracy and fast response. Personal comments from editor. Thank you."
Clh September 2023
"I wasn't aware of this service, it's fascinating and more reliable than standard IA tools available on the internet"
Arturo September 2023
"The fact that you can get reliable fast feedback on your texts."
Vinicius Antonio August 2023
"you guys are better than grammarly i'm being honest here"
ordinary July 2023
"OMG! This is really good than any other text correction tools I've used so far. Highly recommend this."
Vehan July 2023
"Very fast and accurate. thank you."
mojtaba July 2023
"I love this app because it's help to writing skills all of students ♥️"
Tarisini July 2023
"This was exactly the mistake I was looking for, the wording dind´t sound right at first. Better than grammarly!"
Ente July 2023
"The immediate help that I received was reassuring and very satisfactory. Thanks."
priiiyanshuu July 2023
"this helps A LOT for my studies."
kathnunez02 June 2023
"Woow!! I would never have expected such precision! Thank you soooo much!!"
Berta June 2023
"Real Time Editor and not AI. Many Thanks."
Priya June 2023
"The very first thing excites me about Textranch is how much your editors care."
sepideh June 2023
"The fact that texts are checked by human editors rather than by AI, etc. I appreciate this!"
Анна June 2023
"Feel welcome, immediate response, high quality feedback"
martin.roy June 2023
"This is the best app that I have ever seen"
Burulai May 2023

He had known him since he was a child vs He had known him since he'd been a child