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?
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.