tenses

It's "I've known him for 5 years" - you still know him -.

If I dare to make a contribution here...........

It could be "I knew him for 5 years" depending on the tense.

When I say "I knew him", I'll use "five years ago" rather than "for five years". "I knew him five years ago". But I might be wrong as usual.

paco

I want to to know about the difrence between present tense,past tense & future tense

Hello Paco, Nice to see you again

"O knew him for five years." means OVER five years, (from year 1 to year 5)

Tallulah Tam"O knew him for five years." means OVER five years, (from year 1 to year 5)

Hello Tallulah

So am I correct if I say "I knew her for five years" in the case like below?

I got to love her in 1998 and our relationship continued until 2003. But it's over now.

Yes, that is the meaning of "I knew her for five years"

But if you will excuse me, a better worded sentence would be:-

"I startedto love her in 1998 and our relationship continued until 2003, but it's over now."

Hello TT

Yes, you are right. I agree "got to" is a bit too informal. I'm sorry for using such a bad phrase. By the way, I feel the messiness comes from the fact that "know someone" has two meanings. One is a dynamic event: "get acquainted with someone". The other is a stative event: "have a relationship with someone".

paco

And then there is the Biblical "know someone" (but that's another story)

but still "I know him for 5 years" (present tense) is not acceptable, is it? (It would be ok in German, though)