Since | Meaning, Examples & Part of Speech
The word since can function as a preposition, adverb, or subordinating conjunction.
| Part of speech | Example in a sentence |
|---|---|
| Preposition | Charlotte has lived in Scranton since 2015. |
| Adverb | Agnes used to live here, but has since moved away. |
| Conjunction | She decided to move to New York since it was easier for her to find work there. |
| Conjunction | Charlotte has lived in Scranton since she graduated. |
Since definition
Since typically refers to the start of a period of time that lasts up to the time of speaking (e.g., “I haven’t borrowed his power drill since last summer,” “He was sure that he hadn’t borrowed his neighbor’s drill since the previous summer”).
Is since a preposition?
The word since often functions as a preposition. When its part of speech is a preposition, “since” indicates the starting point of a time period (e.g., “I’ve been here since midday”—where the period of time is from midday up to now).
Sentences that use “since” like this are typically in a perfect tense (e.g., the present perfect, present perfect continuous, past perfect, or past perfect continuous tense).
If you define the period of time itself rather than its starting point, then the correct preposition is for, not since (e.g., “I’ve been here for three hours”).
| Since (starting point) in a sentence | For (period of time) in a sentence |
|---|---|
| I haven’t seen him since the start of the semester. | I haven’t seen him for a long time. |
| The heat in our apartment hasn’t been working since Halloween. | The heat in our apartment hasn’t been working for a couple of weeks. |
| They finally fixed the heat; it’d been broken since the beginning of January. | They finally fixed the heat; it’d been broken for three weeks. |
| They’d been promising to fix it since the first week of January. | They’d been promising to fix it for weeks and weeks. |
Is since a conjunction?
Since can function as a subordinating conjunction. When it has this part of speech, it either means “because” (e.g., “Since everyone’s here, let’s start the meeting”) or introduces a dependent clause that indicates the start of a time period (e.g., “That window’s been broken since we moved in”).
It’s now exactly a year since the company first opened for business.
Is since an adverb?
The word since can function as an adverb meaning “subsequently” (e.g., “I was a server back then, but I’ve since become the manager”).
It can also be an adverb in the phrase “ever since” (e.g., “And it’s been a tradition ever since”). But not if it’s introducing a prepositional phrase (e.g., “And it’s been a tradition ever since that day”—where the noun “day” is the object of the preposition “since”).
Frequently asked questions about since
- Is it make sense or since?
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It is make sense, not make since (e.g., “I don’t understand that sentence; it doesn’t make sense to me,” “Sure, I understand; that makes sense”).
The word since typically refers to the starting point of a time period that lasts up to the time of speaking (e.g., “I haven’t made peanut butter cookies since my kids were little”).
QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker will help you pick up typos like “since” instead of “sense” in your writing.
- Is it ever since or every since?
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It is ever since, not every since (e.g., “We went to that restaurant on our first anniversary, and we’ve been going there every year ever since“).
Have you tried QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker? It will help you pick up typos like “every since” instead of “ever since” in your writing.
- Is since a coordinating conjunction?
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No, since is not a coordinating conjunction, but it can be used as a conjunction and be classified as a subordinating conjunction (e.g., “I normally shop there since it’s a bit closer,” “You’ve loved these cookies since you were a child”).
QuillBot’s free Paraphraser will help you find alternative ways of formulating clauses beginning with the conjunction “since.”
