It has been 4 years since we went to a rock concert. 

Use “since” when you want to express a length of time from a moment in the past up until today. 

You can use since + a specific year:

  • since 2022;

since + an occasion or an event:

  • since the concert; 

since + a time in the past

  • since the first day of 7th grade 

When “since” expresses a starting point in time, we often use the present perfect tense (‘have done’). 

 

For example:

 “I haven’t seen you SINCE last May.” 

“It has been years since I have seen Aunt Jo.”

 

Note: When we express a duration of time, we use “for,” as in:

I was in a meeting “for” three hours. 

We talked over coffee “for” 15 minutes. 

 

A common mistake is to use “since” instead of “for”:

NO: “I haven’t seen her since 4 years.”

YES: “I haven’t seen her for 4 years.”

(See the post on “FOR” for more information.)