Present Perfect for Duration
We will learn how to use present perfect to describe ‘how long’ something happened (it’s duration).
Let’s look at these examples:
I’ve known him for seven years.
I’ve worked in the office since 2020.
How long have you been married?
We can use the words since, or for,
Since
When we use since, we can choose a specific start time:
I’ve lived in New York since 2002.
We can also use it for a specific time in our lives:
I’ve played soccer since I was 15 years old.
She’s studied French since she was a university student.
We can even use since to connect it to another event:
I’ve worked in HR since I joined this company.
And we can make it stronger, with emphasis by saying ‘even since’
I’ve wanted to be a pilot ever since I was young.
For
Using for is very simple. We use for to give the length of time.
I’ve been interested in fishing for about 10 years now.
Now, we can ask and answer questions like this:
A: How long have you known John?
B: I’ve known him for about 11 years, I think. Since university.
