Non sono stato al mare da quando vivo qui

    • Dopo "since" non puoi usare il presente. Io direi ( ma aspetta i madrelingua): "I haven't been to the seaside since I have lived here/since I moved here".
     
    giovannino said:
    Dopo "since" non puoi usare il presente. Io direi ( ma aspetta i madrelingua): "I haven't been to the seaside since I have lived here/since I moved here".
    Click to expand...
    I'd use the second option -- "since I moved here" -- or "since I started living here."

    If you use the present after "since," the meaning of "since" changes to "because." That's kind of what I hear with "since I have lived here." I can't explain the grammar of it, but it sounds too similar to a construction like "I don't need a map to get around this town since [i.e., because] I've lived here."
     
    When I wrote that you can't use the present tense after "since" I was referring to its temporal sense, meaning "from the moment that". Of course when it means "because" it can be followed by any tense.
    We Italians tend to make the mistake of using the present tense after temporal "since" because that's what we do in Italian with "da quando". We say "sono molto più felice da quando vivo qui", whereas in English you have to say "since I started living here" or "since I moved here".
     
    Or "since I've lived here" or "since I've been living here"
    or "since moving here" or "since living here" or "since I came here" or... (How long have you got?)
    But all these are past tenses or non-finite gerunds, not present tenses.
     
    Last edited:
    giovannino said:
    Dopo "since" non puoi usare il presente. Io direi ( ma aspetta i madrelingua): "I haven't been to the seaside since I have lived here/since I moved here".
    Click to expand...
    Come ha spiegato @theartichoke con since devi indicare un punto di riferimento nel passato e quindi il past simple "I moved here". Per usare il present perfect dovresti forse dire qualcosa come "For all the time I've lived here..." che esprime una "duration"
     
    Pietruzzo said:
    Come ha spiegato @theartichoke con since devi indicare un punto di riferimento nel passato e quindi il past simple "I moved here". Per usare il present perfect dovresti forse dire qualcosa come "For all the time I've lived here..." che esprime una "duration"
    Click to expand...
    There seems to be a difference of opinion between theartichoke and John Giovanni. The former objected in #3 to my use of the present perfect (since I have lived here), whereas the latter Is clearly OK with it since (= because!) he lists it among his suggestions.
    Maybe it's a difference between BrE and North AmE.
     
    Last edited:
    giovannino said:
    There seems to be a difference of opinion between theartichoke and John Giovanni. The former objected in #3 to my use of the present perfect (since I have lived here), whereas the latter Is clearly OK with it since (= because!) he lists it among his suggestions.
    Maybe it's a difference between BrE and North AmE.
    Click to expand...
    I don't know. I wouldn't definitively say that "I haven't been to the beach since I've lived here" is wrong, and if someone said it to me I'm not sure it would register as wrong (and I would certainly understand it). But there's something about it that just sounds off to me. It could be just me. Any other AE speakers who want to weigh in?
     
    giovannino said:
    There seems to be a difference of opinion between theartichoke and John Giovanni. The former objected in #3 to my use of the present perfect (since I have lived here), whereas the latter Is clearly OK with it since (= because!) he lists it among his suggestions.
    Maybe it's a difference between BrE and North AmE.
    Click to expand...
    Mi era sfuggito l'intervento di @johngiovanni. In base alle quattro cose che so (o pensavo di sapere) di inglese "since I've lived here" non sarebbe corretto per tradurre "da quando vivo qui", Ma se lo dice lui... :)
     
    theartichoke said:
    I don't know. I wouldn't definitively say that "I haven't been to the beach since I've lived here" is wrong, and if someone said it to me I'm not sure it would register as wrong (and I would certainly understand it). But there's something about it that just sounds off to me. It could be just me. Any other AE speakers who want to weigh in?
    Click to expand...
    I agree. I think to make it work (better) I'd say I haven't been to the beach since I've been living here which John gives as an alternative.
     
    I opened a thread at EO on "since I have lived here". Everybody agreed that it is correct and that, given the contest, it can'be ambiguous. It's clearly a "temporal since", not a since=because. However some (like Art) said that, while regarding the sentence grammatical and unambiguous, they would prefer a past simple after "since.

    I still have a feeling that there is a usage difference here between BrE and North Am English.
     
    Last edited:
    I've fixed the link to the English Only thread on "I haven't been happier snce i've lived here":

    Since I've lived here

    I found a quote that seems to reinforce my impression that there is a difference between BrE and AmE. In a usage note, the Cambridge Dictionary says that since can be followed by the present perfect. Their examples:

    They haven't received any junk mail since they've moved house.

    It's been years since I've ridden a bike

    It's years since I've ridden a bike

    Since I've been back at work, I've been feeling great

    NB It's been years since... is more common than It's years since...in AmE.
     
    You must log in or register to reply here.
    Back
    Top