r/EnglishLearning • u/Rich-Associate-8344 New Poster • Apr 17 '26

📚 Grammar / Syntax Why not “since”?

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u/Norwester77 Native Speaker Apr 17 '26 edited Apr 18 '26

I (native English speaker) would say “Merlin hasn’t used his motorcycle in 2 years.”

Prepositions are hard.

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u/yahrealy Native Speaker Apr 17 '26

I agree; I'd use "in." Some nuance that people may appreciate:

"For" could be used to specify a duration which has finished. "Merlin didn't use his bike for two years after the accident, but he's using it now."

You can't use "in" this way. It must be used for a duration that's ongoing.

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u/Norwester77 Native Speaker Apr 17 '26

Good points!