1 2 "For three years" sounds better to me, but I'm not a native speaker, what do you think? I posted this question in (on?) another English forum but there was a lot of disagreement about it. Spain Junior Member 54 My English Japanese dictionary says : "Since X years ago" is a vulgar (non-standard) usage. It should be "for X years" in formal English, but many people use it errorneously. paco Senior Member 4,095  In Japan today even dogs are learning how to bow-wow in English. If you are to use "since", I'd rather use the "number" of the year: since 2002, as we're in 2005. Or, as you say, "for 3 years", if the duration is to be stressed. But I don't like the sound of "since 3 years ago". Let's wait til a native reads your post, shall we?  I'm glad to help, but I'm not a native! And please excuse my typos... "Since X years ago" is a vulgar (non-standard) usageI must confess, Paco, I have never heard a native BrE speaker use this expression, so I would have to agree that it is certainly non-standard English. Quite where the author gets the idea that it may be used at all it would be interesting to discover! It is often used by ELs or non-native speakers. [:^)] Hope that helps. Abbie Hello Abbie I found a paragraph like below in a document written by Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education and Training. "The leadership and management of New Deal programmes have improved paco Senior Member 4,095 In Japan today even dogs are learning how to bow-wow in English. Isn't "since 5 years ago" the same as "for the last 5 years"?, only less grammatical? I'm glad to help, but I'm not a native! And please excuse my typos... Etymologically since (=sin) and ago(=agone) were synonymous. So "since 5 years ago" is like "since 5 years since" or "ago 5 years ago". paco Senior Member 4,095 In Japan today even dogs are learning how to bow-wow in English. ago 5 years agotastes sour... I'm glad to help, but I'm not a native! And please excuse my typos... "The leadership and management of New Deal programmes have improved since five years ago.Paco - you  You know perfectly well that context is everything!!The original question asked about "since" and "for", and your own quote "Since X years ago" is a vulgar (non-standard) usage. It should be "for X years"suggests that people may be confusing "for" and "since". For, since and from are all used to indicate time. For indicates duration - how long something lasts. It is not interchangeable with "since " "I have been here for 5 years" not "I have been here since 5 years" "I've been waiting for her for an hour" Both "from" and "since" give starting points, and are not generally interchangeable. "The shop is open from 9 - 5 "I've been here since 8 pm "Since" is particularly used when duration is measured from a specified point, either the present or a specific point in the past, and present perfect or past perfect tense in usual. "I've been at the computer since 5 pm" not "I've been at the computer from 5 pm. "From" can also be used with present perfect, but it generally indicates 'right from the start' "I knew that Paco would spot a potential for error from the second I posted my reply"  I think that the construct of the sentence above is probably OK, but, as you will know from the example from your dictionary, just because it's authoritative doesn't make it right! Hope that helps. Abbie More
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