Skip to Content

Present perfect with FOR and SINCE

The prepositions for and since are often used with the present perfectThe aspect expressing completion. E.g.: He’s finished university. tenseA grammatical category that is marked by verb inflection. To express when an event or action happens in time or when a state exists, we use tenses.. For is used with an incomplete period of timeA period of time that includes the time of speaking. E.g.: I have known him for two years. ("for two years"), while since with a point of timeA particular moment in time. E.g.: She came home at six. ("six") I was born in 1980. ("1980") .

I have lived here for two months. (period)
I have lived here since January. (point of time)

For questions we use How long...? and Since when...? :

"How long have you lived here?"
"For ten years." (or "Since 2002.")
"Since when have you lived here?"
"(Since) 2002."

The point of time after since can also be expressed with a time clauseA group of related words containing a subject and a verb., in which the past simple is used.

I have lived here since I was born.
Diagrams
I have lived here for two months.
I have lived here since January.
Login or register to access a printer-friendly version, add page to favourites or submit a quote.

Related topics

The following topics are closely related to the one you are viewing.

Topics with similar tags

The following topics share one or more tags with the one you are viewing and may also be interesting.

Rate this page

Average: 5 (1 vote)

Comments and questions

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
To prevent automated spam submissions leave this field empty.