Present Perfect: for and since

Sometimes it can be a little tricky to use for and since with present perfect, so let’s have a look at how it can be done!

First, let’s talk about the present perfect.

To make it, we need: subject + have/has + past particle. Our subject could be a person (I, you, he, she, we, they) or a thing (it, those shoes, these jackets, the government’s investments, etc). Whether we use have or has will depend on the subject. Past particles can be tricky to remember and some people call them Verb3/V3 or the verb in the third form.

We often use the present perfect to talk about things that have happened at some point in the past and are important or relevant now. We can also use them to talk about experiences, like in a job interview for example. It would make sense to want to say approximately how long the thing you’re talking about has happened. This is where for and since come in!

For is used to say how long or how many years/months/days your activity has happened.

Since is used to say the approximate start point.

Here are some examples: I have taught English for 11 years. (How long? 11 years, so I’ve used for)

I have taught English since 2011. (When did I start teaching? In approximately 2011 (I think! haha), so I use since).

Use for when talking about a way of measuring time: months, years, minutes, hours, seasons.

I have lived in Canada for 18 months. You have worked with children for 4 years. He has been eating cheese for 2 hours.

Use since when talking about a start time: 2011, my first day at this job or the last day at another job, Monday, etc.

She has worked here since 2001. They have owned this car since they moved to Australia. We have eaten at this restaurant since it opened.

When we make a question, we don’t usually use since. We can use for, though in perhaps not the most grammatically sound way: How long have you been working here for? (prepositions shouldn’t go at the end of the sentence or statement) We can also say ‘For how long have you been working here?’ but it can sound quite formal.

What do you think? Can you use these to make a sentence in the comments?