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How to use “since”

Posted on September 21, 2017 by barnabyharward

“Since” can be an expression of time, and it can mean “because”.

“Since” as a time expression

When used to express time, the word “since” means:

— from a time in the past until the present
— from a time in the past until another time in the past.

1. From a time in the past until the present

Because of its relationship with time “since” must be used with the correct verb tense.
Have a look at these examples of a common mistake:

WRONG
He is out of the office since you last phoned.
As you may recall, the Paris office assists us with this project since it started.
Mr Jones is employed by the Company since September 2016.

In these three sentences the writers have made the mistake of using the Present Simple
tense (is / assists / is employed) instead of the Present Perfect tense.

RIGHT REPORT THIS AD

He has been out of the office since you last phoned. Search

As you may recall, the Paris office has assisted us with this project since it started.
Dla Polaków
Mr Jones has been employed by the Company since September 2016.
Adjectives
abbreviations
Note that these examples follow this pattern: Adverbs Articles
Present Perfect tense in the main clause and Past tense (or a date in the past) British/US
after “since”. English
Clear and con-
More examples: cise writing
No Public Authority or third party has raised any claims or allegations under Clause 4.1 Commas
Compound nouns
since the Agreement was signed.
Conditionals
Conjunctions
Since he joined the firm as a junior associate in 1998, he has become one of the Countable and un-
most highly regarded lawyers in his field. countable nouns
Gerunds Idioms Modal verbs
Negation Noun groups
(Since joining… is an alternative structure that may be used in this type of sentence.)
Nouns Numbers
Participle clauses Passive voice
In all sentences of this type you must use the Present Perfect tense in the main Phrasal verbs
clause. However, the rule that you use the Past tense after “since” is flexible. polite expressions
Sometimes we can use the Present Perfect here as well. For example: Possession
Prepositions
The department has been extremely busy since we have had an office in Mumbai. Punctuation
I’ve been feeling much better since I’ve been taking more exercise. Quantifiers Relative clauses
Singular or plural
Time expressions
We use the Past tense after “since” when we refer to a point in time in the past, and we use
Useful everyday
the Present Perfect after “since” when we refer to a period of time from the past until the
phrases
present. We could rewrite the above two examples to refer to points in time (and use the
Verbs Verb tenses
Past tense after “since”) as follows: Weights and measures
Word order
The department has been extremely busy since we opened an office in Mumbai.
Recent Posts
I’ve been feeling much better since I started taking more exercise. “Decide to”, “decide on” and
“make a decision”
“To lie” and “to lay”
2. From a time in the past until another time in the past
How to use the phrase “a num-
ber of…”
“Since” can also be used to express time from a starting point in the past until an end point Overuse of linking phrases and
discourse markers
in the past. Such sentences may follow this pattern:
The difference between “in pos-
session of” and “in the posses-
Past Perfect tense in the main clause and Past tense after “since”. sion of”

Links
We were sorry to lose MaxCo when they ceased operations in Poland in 2016. They had BBC English
been a client of ours since they entered the country in 2003. David Crystal
English language and usage
EULETA
In 2013 I was asked to direct the company’s promotional film. I had not done anything Grammar Girl
like that since I worked in TV advertising in 1993. Grammarphobia
Multilinguals
Perfect English Grammar
When I arrived I realised that they had been in the meeting since 9 am. Real Grammar
Terminology of Civil Law
It is also possible to use the pattern Past Perfect tense in the main clause and Past Advertisements
Perfect tense after “since”. For example:

It had been 20 years since I had directed any kind of film.

3. “Ever since”

You can add stress to “since” by adding “ever”.

Our two senior partners have known each other ever since they were at primary
school.

He moved to London in 1994 and he has been living there ever since.

4. Do NOT use “since” to express present time, future time or general time

Note that in all the above examples, “since” is used to describe past time. When used to
express time, “since” can ONLY be used in this way.

WRONG
Present
We want the office to start operating since now, or by the end of June at the latest.

Future
I’ll be in the bar since 7 o’clock this evening.

General time REPORT THIS AD

The licence-granting procedure should not take longer than 90 days since the submission
of the application.

Instead use “from”:

RIGHT
Present
We want the office to start operating from now, or by the end of June at the latest.

Future
I’ll be in the bar from 7 o’clock this evening.

General time
The licence-granting procedure should not take longer than 90 days from the submission
of the application.

5. Do NOT use “since” to express duration

WRONG
The Landlord may terminate the Agreement with immediate effect if the Tenant is in
arrears with payments since three months.

Although we would usually expect a decision within six weeks of making an application,
the Claimant has now been waiting since ten weeks.

Instead use “for”:

RIGHT
The Landlord may terminate the Agreement with immediate effect if the Tenant is in
arrears with payments for three months.

Although we would usually expect a decision within six weeks of making an application,
the Claimant has now been waiting for ten weeks.

Another common mistake

WRONG
He worked at Microsoft since 2003 to 2006.

RIGHT
He worked at Microsoft from 2003 to 2006.

Do not use “since” with “to”. Use “from” and “to” or “from” and “until”. Another example:

He worked at the company from the moment he qualified until his retirement.

WRONG
According to the statement, no accidents at work or on the way to or from work have
occurred since 2006 until now.

RIGHT
According to the statement, no accidents at work or on the way to or from work have
occurred since 2006.

Because “since” — and the Present Perfect tense — incorporate “until now” into their
meanings, including “until now” in the above sentence is not necessary.

“Since” meaning “because”

We do not recommend the course of action you propose since there is a risk that the
employee will refer the matter to court.

This usage of “since” is rather formal, and may be ambiguous in some sentences because “
since” is more commonly used to express time. Consider this example:

We have analysed the tax aspects of the transaction since we were instructed to do so.

This could mean “We have analysed the tax aspects because we were instructed to do so”
or “We have been analysing the tax aspects from the time we were instructed to do so”.

As a result, I recommend using “because” or “as” instead of “since”.

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Common mistakes with the As of Until Now

Present Perfect tense April 2, 2012 November 18, 2010
February 26, 2018 In "Clear and concise In "Time expressions"
In "Time expressions" writing"

This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged Adverbs, Conjunctions, Prepositions, Time expressions.
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24 Responses to How to use “since”

Pete Versage says:

September 25, 2017 at 3:50 pm

Very useful.. I teach business English here in New York and I share your posts with
my students. Thank you Barnaby!
Reply

Alimotij5 says:
June 3, 2019 at 10:21 am

Which one is correct?

Since he……president,both taxes and unemployment……. .

A)has become – increased

B)became – have increased
Reply

barnabyharward says:
June 3, 2019 at 12:02 pm

B is correct – See my explanation at 1. From a time in the past until the

present.
Reply

Rose says:
September 17, 2019 at 1:23 am

Is it correct to use since on the end of a sentence? If yes, which situation?

Reply

barnabyharward says:
September 17, 2019 at 9:01 am

Yes – for example:

“When did you last see John?”
“Last night. In the pub.”
“Have you seen him since?”
“No.”

Another example:
“Have you seen John?”
“I saw him in the pub last night, but I haven’t seen him since.”

Note that the context provides the information about since when.
Reply

roseli de fátima says:

September 19, 2019 at 1:20 am

thank you very much!!!

San Samman says:

November 24, 2019 at 5:31 pm

English is second language in my country and we had an exam, I think the teacher
made a mistake could you help me clarify my suspicions please?
Here is the question:
Since early yesterday, the people there ( fight ) to save their children.
Correct the verb between the brackets.
should the answer be A or B?
A. fight —-> have been fighting.
B. fight —–> fought.
Thanks a lot.
Reply

barnabyharward says:
November 25, 2019 at 9:11 am

Answer A.
Reply

JJs says:
April 17, 2020 at 6:02 am

Can we say ” I started to learning English since I was 8″?

Reply

barnabyharward says:
April 17, 2020 at 9:24 am

No. The correct phrase is “I started learning English when I was 8” or “I

have been learning English since I was 8”.

“To learning” is incorrect.

“I started learning English when I was 8” uses “started” (the Past

Simple tense) with an expression of definite time (“when I was 8”). This
is a moment of time in the past.

“I have been learning English since I was 8” uses “have been learning”
(the Present Perfect Continuous tense) with an expression of indefinite
time (“since I was 8”). This refers to the time from when I was 8 until
now. This is described in point 1 above.

Also see my post “Common mistakes with the Present Perfect tense”.
Reply

HuaGoor says:
June 16, 2020 at 6:05 am

I write: C has held 1 share (0.01% of the whole shares) of S Ltd on trust of CS since
Dec 2003.
My boss rewrite: C holds 1 share (0.01% of the whole shares) of S Ltd on trust of
CS since Dec 2003.
Am I correct?
Reply

barnabyharward says:
June 16, 2020 at 1:43 pm

HuaGoor – Yes you are correct

However, to be 100% correct you should write this: C has held 1 share
(0.01% of all the shares) of S Ltd on trust for CS since Dec 2003.
Reply

Kyeoptashi says:
June 21, 2020 at 6:19 am

Thanks for this!

Reply

Anila Celin Poly says:

August 11, 2020 at 10:14 am

“Since one year and many more to go.” Is this sentence correct??
Reply

barnabyharward says:
August 11, 2020 at 10:51 am

No. As I say in the post, you cannot use “since” to express duration. So “
since one year” is wrong. It should be “for one year…”
Without more context I can’t say whether the rest of the sentence is
correct, but here’s an example that may help: “I have been horseriding
for one year, and I hope there are many more to go”.
Reply

Rachel says:
September 3, 2020 at 5:13 am

Can i say
1. I’ve been working in TCS since 4 years or
2015 ? (Is it right when I mention 4 years?)
2. I worked in TCS for 4 years.
Reply

barnabyharward says:
September 4, 2020 at 9:40 am

Hi Rachel,

The following are correct:

I’ve been working in TCS since 2015.
I worked in TCS for 4 years.

But this is wrong:

I’ve been working in TCS since 4 years.

“4 years” is an expression of duration, so you should use “for” instead of

“since”.
Reply

Ying says:
October 28, 2020 at 3:47 pm

Hi, may I know which is correct ..

A. Mother rewarded Jake since he had done well in his exams.

(exams were over, which happened in the past, so can we use the past perfect tense
here ‘had done’?)

B. Mother rewarded Jake since he has done well in his exams.

(the fact that Jake did well is still current, so should we use present perfect tense
instead?)

C. Mother rewarded Jake since he did well in his exams.

(I think this is correct as ‘since’ is used as ‘because’ here. But I would like to know
if ‘A’ and ‘B’ are acceptable)
Reply

barnabyharward says:
October 30, 2020 at 3:40 pm

Ying,
A and C are grammatically correct. B is not.

B is wrong because the fact that Jake did well is not current in the
context. The context is the rewarding, and Jake’s exam success
happened before that.

To my mind “since” means “because” in all three sentences. If it did not,

then the sentence should be written as follows: “Mother has rewarded
Jake since he did well in his exams.” This means that Mother has
continually been rewarding Jake in the period of time that followed his
exams until the present.

“Since” is rarely used to mean “because” nowadays, except in formal

written English. “Because” or “as” are more common.

Your example sentence sounds rather strange. Referring to “Mother” in

this way was common 100 years ago, but not anymore. I would write
the sentence as follows:
Jake’s mother rewarded him for doing well in his exams.
Reply

Maggie Murtha says:

December 31, 2020 at 10:39 pm

Sometimes I hear an adult say, “Since I’m in high school”, or talking about an
older dog, say, “Since he’s a pup”. Isn’t that totally off the chart wrong? Shouldn’t
it be, “Since I was in high school”, and Since he was a pup”?
Reply

barnabyharward says:
January 11, 2021 at 5:54 pm

I would not use “Since I’m in high school” or “since he’s a pup”. I would
say “Since I’ve been in high school” if I’m still in high school when I’m
saying it, or “since I was in high school” if I’ve left. “Since he was a pup”
implies the dog has grown up. “Since he has been a pup” doesn’t make
much sense – what would the dog have been before he was a pup?
I wouldn’t say using the present tense is off the chart wrong, but I
wouldn’t use it myself. I use standard British English, where it would be
considered wrong. But such usage may be acceptable in certain dialects
or among certain people.
Reply

Maggie Murtha says:

January 13, 2021 at 12:29 am

Thank you very much for your feedback. I was hoping you would
answer as you did.
Maggie
Southern California Girl

WILLY MUSAAZI says:

February 17, 2021 at 1:54 pm

What is the difference between; I have played soccer since last year and I have
been playing soccer since last year?
Reply

barnabyharward says:
February 17, 2021 at 8:19 pm

In this example there is no difference.

However, you would be more likely to say, e.g. “I have been playing
soccer for two hours” than “I have played soccer for two hours”. We
tend to use the Present Perfect Continuous for activities taking place in
the short term. Similarly, you would say “I have been playing soccer
since 10 o’clock this morning”, rather than “I have played soccer since
10 o’clock this morning”.
For longer-term activities – especially when talking about things you’ve
done in your life – you can use either the Present Perfect Simple or the
Present Perfect Continuous – as in your example.
Reply

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