How Long

We use for to say how long

➧ We have been waiting for twenty minutes.
➧ They lived in Manchester for fifteen years.


We can also use a noun phrase without for

➧ Let’s go. We’ve been waiting nearly an hour.
➧ I’ve worked here twenty years.


We use since with the present perfect or the past perfect to say when something started

➧ I have worked here since December.
➧ They had been watching since seven o’clock in the morning.


We use from … to | until to say when something starts and finishes

➧ They stayed with us from Monday to Friday.
➧ We will be on holiday from the sixteenth until the twentieth.


We can use to or until with a noun phrase

➧ My great-grandmother lived in Liverpool from 1940 to her death.
➧ My great-grandmother lived in Liverpool from 1940 until her death.


But we can only use until with a clause

➧ My great-grandmother lived in Liverpool from 1940 to she died.✗
➧ My great-grandmother lived in Liverpool from 1940 until she died. ✓
More Lessons ➧ Here


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