english4theworld learners' centre grammar reference

FOR and SINCE

HOW DO WE USE FOR?

We use for with all Present, Past and Future tenses.

We use for with Perfect tenses when the meaning is ‘time up to now’.

Examples:

• I'm staying at a hotel for a few days.
• Can I speak to you for a minute?
• I never wait for anyone for more than 10 minutes
• I’ve known Peter for seven or eight years now.
• I've been waiting for you for two hours!
• I'm going to live in New York for two months.

HOW DO WE USE SINCE?

We use since with a point in time (e.g. a specific day, time, date) to say when an action started to happen.

We often use Perfect tenses (Present Perfect and Past Perfect Simple and Continuous) before since.

We can use the Past Simple or the Past Continuous tense after since.

Examples:

• He hasn’t written to me since Christmas.
• We’ve been waiting for you since 11 o’clock!
• I had eaten nothing since lunch.
• She had been working in London since 1983.
• We’ve known each other since we were children.
• Since he lost his job, he's been impossible to live with.
• It’s three weeks since (I had) my operation.