How to use SINCE, FOR, and UNTIL

Vanessa: Hi, I'm Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com.

Since?

For?

Until?

Which one's right?

Let's talk about it.

Vanessa: Have you ever wondered "Can native speakers understand what I'm saying?"

Well, even if your accent isn't perfect or if you use basic vocabulary, most people can

figure out what you're trying to say.

But there are some key words that are essential to use in your sentence to have the correct

meaning.

I've talked about these keywords on my channel before, words like "actually," "unless," "though."

And today, we're going to focus on three more key words that are essential so that the correct

meaning of your sentence is understood.

They are "since," "for," and "until."

I hear English learners make mistakes with these words a lot, but after this lesson your

mind will be cleared and you'll be able to use them correctly.

Let's get started.

Vanessa: I want to introduce each word with a little quiz because it's always more fun

for you to guess than for me to just tell you right away, right?

So, I want you to guess which word or which phrase would be best in this sentence.

"I've lived here since...

" Which one of those is best?

Can I give you a little hint?

When did you start living there?

What was the starting point?

It was 2018.

So, we could say, "I've lived here since 2018."

We use "since" when there is a starting point that is continuing until now.

Let's take a look at a couple other examples.

"She's been worrying about her exam since this morning."

That means that the morning is the starting point, and the action is continuing right

now.

She has been worrying about her exam since this morning.

Vanessa: "I've been playing soccer since I was five years old."

Has this person been continuously kicking a soccer ball for the last 30 years of their

life?

No.

This just means that they have played soccer.

They have been an active participant maybe on soccer teams or they've been interested

in soccer since they were five years old.

So, that is the starting point, five years old, and the action is continuing to today.

Vanessa: Notice that all of these sentences use the present perfect tense.

"She has been worrying...

" "I've been playing...

" I hope that throughout today's lesson you won't feel stressed about the present perfect

tense.

Instead, because we'll be using it a lot, you'll just feel like it will come naturally.

Vanessa: Let's take a look at two more sentences.

What about these two sentences?

The first one's positive; the second one's negative.

But they have a very different meaning.

The first one, "He has been eating since this morning."

That means he has been continuously eating since this morning.

What is that action, eating, that has been continuing since?

When was the starting point?

This morning.

Vanessa: Well, what about the second sentence?

It's negative.

"He hasn't eaten since this morning."

So, our starting point is this morning, but what is that continuous action?

Well, it's kind of a non-action of not eating.

He hasn't eaten since this morning, so he's probably really hungry.

You need to get him some food.

He hasn't eaten since this morning.

He's starving.

Vanessa: Let's go on to the next word, which is "for."

I want to give you a little quiz sentence, and then we're going to compare some of the

same sentences we just saw with "since" and then also with "for."

Let's take a look at our first quiz question.

What seems like the best ending for this sentence?

"He has studied for...

" Which one feels the best?

Let me give you a little hint.

How long has he studied?

What is the length of time?

Five years.

When we use "for," we need a length of time.

Vanessa: Let's take a look at the same sentences that we looked at with the word "since," but

let's add the word "for" and see what changes.

"She has been worrying about her exams since this morning."

This is the sentence we just looked at earlier, but what if we want to add the word "for"?

"She has been worrying about her exams for three hours."

This is our length of time.

How long?

For three hours.

Vanessa: "I've been playing soccer since I was five years old."

That's the starting point.

Since I was five years old.

But what about with the word "for," with a length of time?

"I've been playing soccer for 30 years."

I've been playing soccer for most of my life.

That is the length of time.

Vanessa: "He has been eating since this morning."

Nonstop, continuous eating.

He has been eating since this morning.

Or we could say "He's been eating for five hours."

Why hasn't he stopped yet?

Is he not full?

He has been eating for five hours.

That's the length of time.

Vanessa: "He hasn't eaten since this morning."

Well, we have our negative sentence, but when we want to add "for," we can just add the

same thing.

"He hasn't eaten for five hours."

That ending part, in the positive and the negative sentence, is the same, but of course

our meaning's different because we have a positive verb and a negative verb.

"He hasn't eaten for five hours."

Let's find him some food.

Vanessa: Let's go on to our third word, which is "until."

What is the best ending to this sentence?

"I drove that car until...

" Would you like a hint?

When did I stop driving that car?

When did it break down?

2019.

So, when we use the word "until," we need a stopping point.

Vanessa: Let's look at some of those same sentences that we saw before with "since"

and "for" plus a couple others because I want to show you some different ways that you can

use "until."

"She worried about her exam until it was finished."

That was the stopping point: until it was finished.

And then she stopped worrying.

She worried about her exams until it was finished.

Vanessa: "I played soccer until I broke my leg."

So, here we have a turning point, a stopping point, a stopping time.

After I broke my leg, I couldn't play soccer.

Maybe after it healed, I could play again.

But I played soccer until I broke my leg.

Vanessa: "He ate until he had a stomachache."

He ate until he had a stomachache.

Were you ever like that as a kid that when you got a lot of candy, you just ate until

you had a stomachache, and then maybe you briefly regretted your decision?

I ate until I had a stomachache, and then the next year I forgot about it.

Vanessa: "He didn't have a smartphone until 2009."

So, we have a negative sentence, and that negative action is continuing, and it stopped

in 2009.

So, the stopping point is 2009, when he bought a smartphone.

So, he didn't have a smartphone until 2009, when he bought one.

Vanessa: "I didn't realize I could learn English until today."

So, you had this negative feeling, "I can't learn English, I can't learn English," and

then today you watched this lesson and your mind was changed.

Until today.

Great.

Vanessa: "I haven't found a good teacher until you."

Thank you so much.

So, here we're talking about some negative thing that has happened.

I've tried a lot of different classes and a lot of different teachers and I haven't

found a good teacher, but then something changed.

This negative action stopped, and I found a good teacher.

Wonderful.

Vanessa: We talked about a lot over the past few minutes with "since," "for," and "until."

Do you think you're ready for a little test?

I wrote this fun story, and I want you to fill in the blank with the correct word.

Is it "since," "for," or "until"?

I'm going to read the story, and then I'm going to pause when there's a blank.

I want you to think about which words should go in the blank, and then I'm going to read

that sentence again with the correct word so you can see if you got it correct.

Are you ready to hear a silly little story?

Let's do it.

Vanessa: Ricky the Raccoon walked into a bar and asked for a beer.

The bartender looks surprised and said, "I haven't seen you here... last year."

"I haven't seen you here since last year."

Vanessa: Ricky explained, "Well, I was sick for a while, and I couldn't drink...

I got better."

"Well, I was sick for a while, and I couldn't drink until I got better."

Vanessa: The raccoon and the bartender chatted about their past year... two hours.

The raccoon and the bartender chatted about their past year for two hours... another customer

came in.

... until another customer came in.

Vanessa: It was Benny the Badger.

Ricky and Benny have had a bad relationship... they were baby cubs.

Ricky and Benny have had a bad relationship since they were baby cubs.

Vanessa: Because of Ricky's sickness, his heart had softened.

He looked at Benny the Badger and said, "Benny, I'm not going to leave this bar... we make

up."

"Benny.

I'm not going to leave this bar until we make up.

I'm tired of fighting with you."

Vanessa: After a long, heartfelt conversation, they shook hands and hugged.

Do you know what?

They've been friends... five years without one fight.

They've been friends for five years without one fight.

Vanessa: Did you like that silly little story?

Now, I'm going to read the entire story altogether with the correct words, and I challenge you

to try to say the sentence exactly at the same time as me.

Shadow my voice.

Practice with your speaking muscles, your pronunciation muscles, and also the grammar

that we learned in this lesson.

Let's say it together.

Vanessa: Ricky the Raccoon walked into a bar and asked for a beer.

The bartender looked surprised and said, "I haven't seen you here since last year."

Ricky explained, "Well, I was sick for a while and I couldn't drink until I got better."

The raccoon and the bartender chatted about their past year for two hours until another

customer came in.

It was Benny the Badger.

Ricky and Benny have had a bad relationship since they were baby cubs.

Because of Ricky's sickness, his heart had softened.

He looked at Benny the Badger and said, "Benny, I'm not going to leave this bar until we make

up.

I'm tired of fighting with you."

After a long, heartfelt conversation, they shook hands and hugged.

Do you know what?

They've been friends for five years without one fight.

Vanessa: Great work practicing these three challenging words today.

And now, I have a question for you: In the comments, can you make a sentence that uses

either "since," "for," or "until"?

I look forward to reading your sentences, and make sure that you read each other's sentences

too to just expand your practice.

Thanks so much for learning English with me, and I'll see you again next Friday for a new

lesson here on my YouTube channel.

Bye.

Vanessa: The next step is to download my free ebook, Five Steps to Becoming a Confident

English Speaker.

You'll learn what you need to do to speak confidently and fluently.

Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more free lessons.

Thanks so much.

Bye.