Let's imagine today is Thursday. Which should I say:
I haven't eaten anything since this Monday/since Monday.
Best Answer
When you use the present perfect tense, there are usually two options, (1) use "for" to indicate a duration (period) and (2) use "since" to indicate the starting point of the period.
I have not eaten anything for four days.
I have not eaten anything since (this) Monday.
The determiner this is used with periods of time related to the present. You can use "this" in the sentence to indicate the last (past) Monday. But using "this" is not absolutely required because it would be easily understood from the context that you are referring to the past Monday as you are using the present perfect tense.
I agree with Tetsujin; native English speakers differ. I've heard native speakers use both meanings in each of the examples you give. I most often hear "this Monday" and "next Monday" to both mean "the Monday of the following week". And of course contextual cues can be used to determine if the speaker is intending "this Monday" to be in the past. "This Monday the weather was so nice I washed my car" is pretty clearly in the past.
I personally am in the habit of saying "this past Monday" and "this coming Monday" to clearly indicate which I mean.
This is a good lesson that you can't always trust what native speakers write. Of course, sometimes it's impossible to know if the odd grammar is just slang or laziness.
You are correct, and the sentence should be:
I haven't been able to sleep well since last week.
Best Answer
When you use the present perfect tense, there are usually two options, (1) use "for" to indicate a duration (period) and (2) use "since" to indicate the starting point of the period.
The determiner this is used with periods of time related to the present. You can use "this" in the sentence to indicate the last (past) Monday. But using "this" is not absolutely required because it would be easily understood from the context that you are referring to the past Monday as you are using the present perfect tense.