Explanation
Use the present perfect with "for" and "since" to talk about something that started in the past and continues now. Use "for" with a length of time, like "for two years" or "for a long time." Use "since" with a starting point, like "since 2020" or "since Monday."
For example, "I have lived in Tokyo for five years." Here, "I" is the subject, "have lived" is the present perfect verb, "in Tokyo" tells the place, and "for five years" tells the length of time. In Japanese, you often say "5年間東京に住んでいます" or "2020年から働いています." English uses "have/has" plus the past participle to show that the situation is still true now.
「for」と「since」を使う現在完了は、過去に始まって今も続いていることを言います。"for" は「2 years」「a long time」のように期間を表します。"since" は「2020」「Monday」のように始まりの時点を表します。
たとえば "I have lived in Tokyo for five years." では、"I" が主語、"have lived" が現在完了の動詞、"in Tokyo" が場所、"for five years" が続いた長さです。日本語では「5年間東京に住んでいます」「2020年から働いています」と言いますが、英語では「have/has + 過去分詞」で今まで続く感じを表します。
Examples
- I have lived here for three years. 私はここに3年間住んでいます。
- She has worked at that cafe since 2021. 彼女は2021年からそのカフェで働いています。
- Have you known him for a long time? 彼のことを長い間知っていますか。
- We haven't seen her since Monday. 私たちは月曜日から彼女に会っていません。
- My parents have owned this house for ten years. 私の両親はこの家を10年間持っています。
- They have been friends since high school. 彼らは高校時代から友達です。
- We've lived in Oakland since 1995. 私たちは1995年からオークランドに住んでいます。
Common Mistakes
Japanese learners often use the wrong form with time words, like "I live here for three years" or "I have lived here since three years." Use the present perfect, and match the word correctly: "for" + a period of time, and "since" + a starting point. Correct forms are "I have lived here for three years" and "I have lived here since 2021."
日本語話者は、時を表す語と形をまちがえやすいです。たとえば "I live here for three years" や "I have lived here since three years" などです。正しくは現在完了を使い、"for" の後ろには期間、"since" の後ろには始まりの時点を置きます。正しい形は "I have lived here for three years" と "I have lived here since 2021" です。