SINCE vs FOR Difference | Use in English with Examples

In this video,, I’m going to talk about the two similar and sometimes confusing English

expressions – ‘since’ and ‘for’.

These two time expressions are commonly confused in English.

But after watching this video, you'll have a good understanding of the difference and when to use these words.

Let’s get started.

Let’s start with ‘since’

‘since’ shows when a past action first started.

We always need a starting point with ‘since’

so when you use ‘since’, you always need a specific time expression.

Let's take a look at some example sentences.

The first sentence says,

‘I have been working since 8 o'clock this morning.’

You'll notice that the specific time expression comes after ‘since’.

And it shows when this person started working.

The next sentence says,

‘She has been on a diet since August.’

The specific time expression here is August

and it comes after ‘since’.

It shows when she started dieting.

Okay, now, I will talk about ‘for’.

We use ‘for’ to express a length of time in English.

It is used to express duration or how long something has happened.

Let's take a look at some examples.

The first sentence says,

‘I have been working for five hours.’

In this case, we have a duration five hours

and it comes after ‘for’.

The next sentence says,

‘She has been on a diet for three months’.

Again, we have three months which shows the duration

- how long she has been on a diet.

Again, notice it comes after the word ‘for’.

Now, let's do a checkup.

In this conversation, there are two sentences.

In one of the sentences, we should use ‘since’

and in the other we should use ‘for’.

Take a moment to think about where we use ‘since’ and ‘for’.

‘A' says,

‘Have you been working here _blank_ 2008?’

You'll notice the specific time expression ‘2008’.

Remember, when we use a specific time expression,

we put ‘since’ before the expression.

So ‘A’ says,

‘Have you been working here since 2008?’

‘B’ says, ‘No, I’ve only been working here _blank_ two weeks.’

‘two weeks’ is a duration.

It shows how long this action has been happening.

So the best answer here is ‘for’.

‘No, I’ve only been working here for two weeks.’

So let's take a look at the whole conversation.

‘A’ says,

‘Have you been working here since 2008?’

And ‘B’ says, ‘No, I’ve only been working here for two weeks.’

Now you know the difference between ‘since’ and ‘for’.

Be sure to practice these two time expressions.

They're very important to properly express time and duration in English.

Thank you guys so much for watching.

And I’ll see you in the next video.