Since young/he was young

Since their son was very young, his parents have known that he is intelligent.

Thanks, Micawber.

Since their son was very young, his parents knew that he is/was intelligent.

Mister Micawber
Since their son was very young, his parents have known that he is intelligent.

Hi,
would (American) native speakers tend to say "Ever since" instead of "since", to avoid the meaning "because"? Every time I read or hear "since" at the beginning of a sentence, I think of "because"...
Do native speake

Mister Micawber
Since their son was very young, his parents have known that he is intelligent.

I think this works only if he's still around us

Marius HancuSince [which BTW means: "from the times when", not "because"] their son was very young, his parents knew (that) he was intelligent.

Hi,
if I heard that, I'd definitely think that "since" meant "because".
Since their son was very young, his parents knew he w

Hi Kooyen

Since (=Because) he was sick, he went to see a doctor.

Since he left school, he has been unemployed.

He has been unemployed since he left school.

He has not found a job since he left school.

Since he left school, he has not found a job.

(Ever) Since their son was very young, his parents have known that he is intelligent.

'Ever' certainly helps, Kooyeen, but I have no trouble understanding the locution without it. There are many forms and structures in the language (witness homophones) that are ambiguous until the statement is completed or the context revealed.

Since their son was very young, his parents knew he was very intelligent. (since = because) I agree

His parents have known he is very intelligent since their son was very young. (clauses swapped) W

>Since their son was very young, his parents knew he was very intelligent. (since = because)

I don't agree, it's not fully logical: being young doesn't automatically mean intelligent.

For this reason alone, it's difficult to infer that in this case (since = because) without extra context.