For and Since (duration and starting point)
📌 Lesson contents
🎯 Lesson goal
In this lesson you will learn to use for and since 📖 with the Present Perfect, to talk about how long something has lasted or when it started. You will learn when to use them 🧠, where to put them in a sentence ✍️ and practise straight away with the quiz at the bottom of the page! 🚀
🌟 What do “for” and “since” mean?
- For ➔ shows how long something has lasted (a length of time). ⏳
- Since ➔ shows when something started (an exact starting point). 📅
🔍 When do we use “for”?
✅ We use for with periods or amounts of time that we can measure.
📌 Examples:
- I have lived here for five years. 🏡
- She has worked in this company for two months. 🏢
More time periods with ‘for’:
- for three days
- for a long time
- for a few minutes
🔍 When do we use “since”?
✅ We use since with a specific, exact point in time (the moment when the action started).
📌 Examples:
- I have lived here since 2019. 📅
- They have known each other since high school. 🎓
More points in time with ‘since’:
- since yesterday
- since last week
- since 8 a.m.
🧩 Summary table – For vs Since
| Word | When we use it | Example |
|---|---|---|
| For | Duration / period (how long) | I have worked here for three years. 🏢 |
| Since | Starting point (since when) | I have worked here since 2020. 📅 |
❓ Basic doubts cleared up
- Can I use “since” with a length of time like “three years”?
➔ No! Since always needs an exact starting point (e.g. since 2020), never an amount of time. - Can I use “for” with an exact date?
➔ No! If you give a date, a year or a specific day, you must use since. - Do “for” and “since” go before the time expression?
➔ Yes! They come before the length of time (e.g. for 5 days) or before the starting date or moment (e.g. since 2018).
🚫 Common mistakes to avoid
| Mistake ❌ | Correct ✅ |
|---|---|
| I have lived here since five years. | I have lived here for five years. (Length of time = for) |
| She has worked here for 2018. | She has worked here since 2018. (Year / start = since) |
👉 Remember: FOR = the whole length of time | SINCE = the starting point!
📌 Final summary
- For ➔ shows a length of time (how long).
- Since ➔ shows an exact moment (since when).
Choose by logic: length of time = for / starting point = since! Practise by talking about how long you have done something or when you started! ✨
Gap Fill & Translation Exercises
Test yourself! In the first 15 sentences, choose ‘for’ or ‘since’. In the last 5, write the sentence in English from the situation given.