Common mistakes | prepositions of time for, since, from

Hello and welcome everyone,  this is Minoo at Anglo-Link.

In this lesson we're going to look at some common  mistakes I often hear with the prepositions

'for', 'since', and 'from'.

Remember that just learning  the rules is not enough to activate something into your own usage.

It's important to do a sufficient amount of practice as well.

You will find lots of practice material on my online course at Anglo-Link.com.

Now, let's look at some common mistakes with the prepositions 'for', 'since', and 'from'

and see if you can correct them.

Starting with common mistake No.1.

Find the mistake in this sentence:

I have been living in Greece for 10 years between 2005 and 2015.

A very common mistake is to think that every time we see the word 'for' and a length of time,

we should use the Present Perfect Continuous tense.

That is not the case.

For example in this sentence, it's clear that the person no longer lives in Greece.

They lived in Greece between 2005 and 2015.

Right! Let's look at common mistake No.2.

Here's the sentence for you to correct:

I've been here since two hours.

I think you got that. It's not since two hours, but...

for two hours.

Right, let's look at common mistake No. 3.

Here's the sentence: We've consulted three lawyers for the past two weeks.

What's the mistake here?

Right! Here we're using 'for' by mistake.

The proposition we need here is 'in'.

We've consulted three lawyers in the past two weeks.

Because we're referring to three completed actions.

We can only use 'for' if we're referring  to an action that started in the past and still continues.

For example:  We've been working on this problem for the past two weeks.

Okay! Common mistake No. 4.

I've been here from two o'clock.

I'm sure you got that one. It's...

I've been here since two o'clock.

It's important for you to understand what the word 'since' actually means.

'Since' means from a time in the past until now.

And that's why you can only use 'since' with Present Perfect Continuous and Present Perfect tenses,

which are tenses related to actions that started in the past,  or states that started in the past

and continue until now.

So, when the action or state continues, we always use the word 'since'.

For example:  I've been living in Thailand since 2015.

Or: I have lived in Thailand since 2015.

I've been here since 9 a.m.

Right! Let's look at mistake No. 5.

We've been working on this issue since two weeks ago.

How could you improve this sentence?

Now, although this sentence is not completely wrong,

if you're going to say 'two weeks', why make it so long?

Why say 'since two weeks ago'? Just use the preposition 'for'.

We've been working on this issue for two weeks.

Okay, let's look at mistake No. 6.

I've been here since the shop has opened.

The mistake here is using the Present Perfect tense instead of Past Simple in the 'since' clause.

In the 'since' clause, always use the Past Simple tense.

So: I've been here since the shop opened.

And finally, mistake No. 7.

I lived in Greece since 2005 until 2015.

I'm sure you got that one. We don't use 'since' in this context but 'from'.

I lived in Greece from 2005 until or to 2015.

Remember that we only use 'since' when we're talking about from the past until now.

And one last thing to mention to you about the word 'from'.

When you use 'from' for a future time, it's common to add the word 'as'.

For example: As from tomorrow, I'll start studying an hour earlier.

You can also say: As of tomorrow, I'll start studying an hour earlier.

'As of' is slightly more formal than 'as from', but they have the same meaning.

Right! That's the end of this lesson.

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Thanks a lot for watching and I'll see you soon in my next lesson.

Goodbye for now.