Learn English – Proper usage of the word since

word-usage

Sometimes I hear people say something like the example below. Is it correct to use the word since in this manner?

Mosquitoes are surviving on earth since millions of years.

Best Answer

No, this is not correct. Since is employed to designate a timespan running from a definite† point in time up to the current 'Reference Time', whatever that may be:

Bob has lived here since 1992. ... The timespan runs from 1987 to the present.

In 1874 Wagner completed Der Ring des Nibelungen, which he had been working on since 1848. ... The timespan runs from 1848 to 1874.

If you want to define the timespan by its duration you should use for:

Bob has lived here for twenty-two years.

Wagner worked on the Ring for twenty-six years.

Mosquitoes have survived on Earth for millions of years.

† This does not mean that the point must be defined with great precision. For instance, “Since the first millennium BCE” is acceptable.

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