I haven’t been out since Christmas.
The situation has not changed since 2001.
There has been no word of my friend since the revolution.
Since is also used to indicate the beginning of situations that ended in the past. The verb is in the past perfect.
I’d been working in London since January at a firm called Kendalls.
He hadn’t prayed once since the morning.
I’d only had two sandwiches since breakfast.
Since can also be used with other prepositional phrases that indicate a point in time.
I haven’t seen you since before the summer.
The noun phrase after since can sometimes refer to a person or thing rather than a time or event, especially when used with a superlative, first, or only, or with a negative.
They hadn’t seen each other since Majorca.
I have never had another dog since Jonnie.
Ever since London, I’ve been working towards this.
4.138 The time when a situation began can also be shown by using the preposition from and adding the adverb on or onwards. The noun phrase can be a date, an event, or a period. The verb can be in the past simple or in a perfect form.
…the history of British industry from the mid sixties on.
From the eighteenth century on, great private palaces went up.
But from the mid-1960s onwards the rate of public welfare spending has tended to accelerate.
The family size starts to influence development from birth.
They never perceived that they themselves had forced women into this role from childhood. …the guide who had been with us from the beginning.
4.139 You can also use the preposition after to give the time when a situation began.
They don’t let anybody in after six o’clock.
After 1929 I concentrated on canvas work.
He’d have a number of boys to help him through the summertime but after October he’d just have the one.
end time
4.140 Similarly, if you want to say that a situation continues for some time and then stops, you can indicate the time when it stops by using the preposition until with a time adverbial or an event.
The school was kept open until ten o’clock five nights a week.
They danced and laughed and talked until dawn.
She walked back again and sat in her room until dinner.
I’ve just discovered she’s only here until Sunday.
He had been willing to wait until the following summer.
Until the end of the 18th century little had been known about Persia.
Until that meeting, most of us knew very little about him.
Until can also be used in negative clauses to say that something did not or will not happen before a particular time.
We won’t get them until September.
My plane does not leave until tomorrow morning.
Until is also used with other prepositional phrases that indicate a point in time.
I decided to wait until after Easter to visit John.
Some people use till instead of until, especially in informal English.
Sometimes I lie in bed till nine o’clock.
Up to and up till are also sometimes used, mainly before now and then.
Up to now, I have been happy with his work.
It was something he had never even considered up till now.
I had a three-wheel bike up to a few years ago but it got harder and harder to push it along.
Up to 1989, growth averaged 1 per cent.
4.141 You can also use the preposition before to indicate when a situation ends.
Before 1716 Cheltenham had been a small market town.
start and end times
4.142 The duration of a situation or event can be shown by saying when it begins and when it ends. You can use from to show when it begins and to, till, or until to show when it ends.
The Blitz on London began with nightly bombings from 7 September to 2 November.
They are active in the line from about January until October.
They seem to be working from dawn till dusk.
You can also use between and and instead of from and to.
The car is usually in the garage between Sunday and Thursday in winter.
The chat show goes out midnight through six a.m.
If you are using figures to refer to two times or years, you can separate them with a dash, instead of using from and to.
…open 10–5 weekdays, 10–6 Saturdays and 2–6 Sundays.
Using time expressions to modify nouns
4.143 You can also use time expressions involving a cardinal number and a general time word to modify nouns. Note that an apostrophe is added to the time word.
Four of those were sentenced to 15 days’ detention.
They want to take on staff with two years’ experience.
This use of cardinal numbers is described in paragraph 2.231.
4.144 Time expressions are also used as compound adjectives to modify countable nouns.
They all have to start off with a six-month course in German.
I arrived at the University for a three-month stint as a visiting lecturer.
Compound adjectives are explained in paragraphs 2.94 to 2.102.
5 Varying the message: modals, negatives, and ways of forming sentences
5.1 This chapter deals with three different ways in which the meaning of a sentence can be varied, by altering the order of words or by adding other words to the verb phrase.
Paragraphs 5.2 to 5.46 explain how to form statements, questions, orders, and suggestions.