SINCE vs FOR Difference | Use in English with Examples

66,068 views ・ 2021-11-03

Shaw English Online


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

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In this video,, I’m going to talk about the two similar and sometimes confusing English
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expressions – ‘since’ and ‘for’.
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These two time expressions are commonly confused in English.
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But after watching this video, you'll have a good understanding of the difference and when to use these words.
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Let’s get started.
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Let’s start with ‘since’
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‘since’ shows when a past action first started.
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We always need a starting point with ‘since’
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so when you use ‘since’, you always need a specific time expression.
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Let's take a look at some example sentences.
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The first sentence says,
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‘I have been working since 8 o'clock this morning.’
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You'll notice that the specific time expression comes after ‘since’.
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And it shows when this person started working.
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The next sentence says,
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‘She has been on a diet since August.’
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The specific time expression here is August
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and it comes after ‘since’.
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It shows when she started dieting.
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Okay, now, I will talk about ‘for’.
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We use ‘for’ to express a length of time in English.
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It is used to express duration or how long something has happened.
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Let's take a look at some examples.
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The first sentence says,
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‘I have been working for five hours.’
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In this case, we have a duration five hours
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and it comes after ‘for’.
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The next sentence says,
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‘She has been on a diet for three months’.
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Again, we have three months which shows the duration
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- how long she has been on a diet.
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Again, notice it comes after the word ‘for’.
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Now, let's do a checkup.
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In this conversation, there are two sentences.
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In one of the sentences, we should use ‘since’
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and in the other we should use ‘for’.
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Take a moment to think about where we use ‘since’ and ‘for’.
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‘A' says,
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‘Have you been working here _blank_ 2008?’
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You'll notice the specific time expression ‘2008’.
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Remember, when we use a specific time expression,
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we put ‘since’ before the expression.
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So ‘A’ says,
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‘Have you been working here since 2008?’
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‘B’ says, ‘No, I’ve only been working here _blank_ two weeks.’
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‘two weeks’ is a duration.
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It shows how long this action has been happening.
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So the best answer here is ‘for’.
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‘No, I’ve only been working here for two weeks.’
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So let's take a look at the whole conversation.
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‘A’ says,
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‘Have you been working here since 2008?’
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And ‘B’ says, ‘No, I’ve only been working here for two weeks.’
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Now you know the difference between ‘since’ and ‘for’.
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Be sure to practice these two time expressions.
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They're very important to properly express time and duration in English.
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Thank you guys so much for watching.
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And I’ll see you in the next video.
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