Intermediate grammar exercise: from, for and since
English grammar practice exercise, for pre-intermediate and intermediate level.
In this exercise you will practise the difference between for, since and from.
Exercise instructions
Decide whether the following sentences require for, since or from.
| Since | |
| Since expresses duration up to the present. When we use since, we are saying that something began in the past and is unfinished: I have lived in this house since 1997. (= 'I moved here in 1997 and I still live here.') We’ve been married since last June. (= 'We got married last June and we’re still married.') I've known him since we were at school. (= 'I knew him at school and I still know him.') |
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| We use the present perfect simple or present perfect continuous with since: I have had this car since last April. Mary has been working here since 2003. |
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| We can use the past perfect tense with since to express duration from a point in the past: It was 1974, and he had been living in London since 1964. |
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| Since vs. for | |
| Since and for both express duration up to a point in the present, but we use them differently. | |
| We use since + the starting point of the activity: We have lived in this house since we got married. I've been waiting here since 9 o'clock. |
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| We use for + a time period: We have lived in this house for thirty years. I've been waiting here for three hours. |
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| Since vs. from | |
| We use since and from to express duration. Both tell us the starting point of an activity. | |
| Since expresses duration of an unfinished action, up to a point in the present: I've been here since 8 o'clock this morning so I'm going home now. I've been here from 8 o'clock this morning.
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| We use from in other cases: I will be here from 8 o'clock tomorrow. I will be here since 8 o'clock tomorrow. The shop is open from 9 a.m on Saturdays. The shop is open since 9 a.m on Saturdays.
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| We say from . . . to or from . . . till / until: He works from 8 to 5 o'clock. From the 1920s until his death, Picasso lived in France. |
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Subbu - October 24, 2016, 7:56 pm
This is a very helpful stuff keep going thanks 🙂
BTW I have a doubt..he is an ultimate entertainer for the past 7 years.
Does using- “From the past 7 years”.in the above sentence is wrong ??
Jubbu - December 3, 2016, 7:46 pm
He is an ultimate entertainer for the past 7 years.
That’s not correct.
–> He has been an ultimate entertainer for the past 7 years.
You have to use present perfect with this kind of expressions.
Neither “since” nor “from” is correct in this sentence, because you can’t use them with a period of time. You can only use “for”.
Santhi - February 19, 2019, 6:45 pm
I hav e a doubt..Can we use from and since is the same sentence..Ex.It is raining since from morning.
Malcolm Todd - September 23, 2020, 11:38 am
X “It is raining since from morning.”
No. But not just because of “since from”: as with Jubbu’s reply to Subbu above, the tense is wrong. You would have to say:
“It has been raining since morning.”
Note: “since from” is *never* right, unless ‘since’ is being used in the sense ‘because’.
Anonymous - May 27, 2021, 1:15 pm
you have to delete the word ‘ from’ that appears before the word morning.
i can give you an example that contains from and since.
** i have lived in Berlin since 2016. That was from 2012-2016