BEANTWORTEN SIE FRAGEN - English

Jetzt abstimmen!AntworteteSprachfrage
Waht’s the difference between since and for? E.g. : I work for years / since years ? Can you give me some examples.

PS: Here are some related free lessons to learn English: Teaching session: Formation of Adjectives — Collocations with do — Any and no — US Virgin Islands Timeline

BEANTWORTEN SIE FRAGEN

Priyesh profile picture PriyeshMay 2020
To be clear with it without involving any tenses. For is used for a period of time you are doing a thing like a person is playing guitar for 10 years and since is use d for a time from which a thing is happening! Like i am playing a cricket since 2010 and therefore i can say i am playing cricket for 10 years
Malaurie94 profile picture Malaurie94May 2020
Hi there!
First of all, since/ for are used with the present perfect / present perfect Be+ing (I have learnt English for 5 years / since last Christmas) because it is used to express an action that started in the past but still continues in the present (it's been raining for days now = it started a few days ago and it's still raining right now)

Now, as for since or for. If you give a specific point in the past (Xmas, when I was a kid, last week etc....) it's since : I've lived in France since I gave birth to my son (specific event in the past) / I have worked for air France since I was 19 (specific age / time in the past)

You use "for" when you talk about a period of time : I ve learnt English for 6 years now (it started 6 years ago and you never stopped for 6 years and you still continue 6 years later)
My brother has been showering for hours now
My sister 's been single for 2 years BUT my sister's been single since she was 25 (see the difference?)

I hope it's clear :S
  • exRanger profile picture exRangerMay 2020
    Um, much, but not all, of your explanations are 'clear', @ least not @ the upper echelons of English language usage.

    You also violated a few spelling/usage rules of proper English:

    1. "learnt" --- NO. The correct expression in your mini-essay is "learned", i.e., "I ve learned English for 6 years now..." (also note you omitted the apostrophe in the contraction "I've").
    2. On the statement " I ve learnt English for 6 years now...", this would be better (and correctly) expressed in the passive past + gerund, i.e., "I've been learning English for six years now..." (Also note that when writing numbers in English, the single-digit number, i.e., 0-9, should ALWAYS be expressed in spelled out format and NEVER as integers. This is an INVIOLABLE RULE of correct formal English composition.
    3. Again re: "I ve learnt English for 6 years now.." The verb "to learn" is really NOT the best term to use in this instance. A better and more correct verb choice is "to study", i.e., "I've been studying English for six years now..." Understand the difference?
    4. And again re: I ve learnt English for 6 years now.." The word "now" is superfluous - that is, it is unnecessary for so many reasons, thus the VERY BEST version of this statement is thus:

    "I've been studying English for six years."

    That's all for now.

    - exRanger