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Since vs Past - What's the difference?

since | past |

As an adverb since

is from a specified time in the past.

As a preposition since

is from (time).

As a conjunction since

is from the time that.

As a verb past is

.

since

English

Adverb

(-)
  • From a specified time in the past.

    • Preposition

    (English prepositions)
  • From (time).
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012, date=April 19, author=Josh Halliday, work=the Guardian
    • , title= Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised? , passage="Mujtahidd" has attracted almost 300,000 followers since the end of last year, when he began posting scandalous claims about the Saudi elite. In one tweet, Mujtahidd directly challenged Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Fahd about his political history: "Did you resign or were you forced to resign from your post as head of the diwan [office] of the council of ministers?"}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=29, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= Unspontaneous combustion , passage=Since the mid-1980s, when Indonesia first began to clear its bountiful forests on an industrial scale in favour of lucrative palm-oil plantations, “haze” has become an almost annual occurrence in South-East Asia. The cheapest way to clear logged woodland is to burn it, producing an acrid cloud of foul white smoke that, carried by the wind, can cover hundreds, or even thousands, of square miles.}}
    Antonyms
    * until

    Conjunction

    (English Conjunctions)
  • From the time that.
  • * , section=chapter 6
    • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=He had one hand on the bounce bottle—and he'd never let go of that since he got back to the table—but he had a handkerchief in the other and was swabbing his deadlights with it.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=September-October, author=(Simson Garfinkel)
    • , magazine=(American Scientist), title= Digital Forensics , passage=Since the 1980s, computers have had increasing roles in all aspects of human life—including an involvement in criminal acts. This development has led to the rise of digital forensics, the uncovering and examination of evidence located on all things electronic with digital storage, including computers, cell phones, and networks.}}
  • Because.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
    • , section=chapter 20 citation , passage=The story struck the depressingly familiar note with which true stories ring in the tried ears of experienced policemen.
  • (obsolete) When or that.
  • * (William Shakespeare)
    • Do you remember since we lay all night in the windmill in St. George's field?

    Statistics

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    Anagrams

    * nices, 1000 English basic words ----

    past

    English

    (wikipedia past)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The period of time that has already happened, in contrast to the present and the future.
    • a book about a time machine that can transport people back into the past
  • * D. Webster
    • The past , at least, is secure.
  • * Trench
    • The present is only intelligible in the light of the past , often a very remote past indeed.
  • (grammar) The past tense.

    • Derived terms

    (Terms derived from the noun "past") * blast from the past * in the past * past anterior * past continuous * past historic * past participle * past perfect * past progressive * past simple * past tense * simple past

    See also

    * preterite

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Having already happened; in the past; finished.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
    • , chapter=7 citation , passage=The highway to the East Coast which ran through the borough of Ebbfield had always been a main road and even now, despite the vast garages, the pylons and the gaily painted factory glasshouses which had sprung up beside it, there still remained an occasional trace of past cultures.}}
  • (postmodifier) Following expressions of time to indicate how long ago something happened; ago.
  • * 1999 , (George RR Martin), A Clash of Kings , Bantam 2011, p. 538:
    • That had been, what, three years past ?
  • * 2009 , , Glencoe , Amberley 2009, p. 20:
    • Some four decades past , as a boy, I had a chance encounter and conversation with the late W.A. Poucher [...].
  • Of a period of time: having just gone by; previous.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012, date=April 23, work=(The Guardian), author=Angelique Chrisafis
    • , title=François Hollande on top but far right scores record result in French election citation , passage=Sarkozy's total will be seen as a personal failure. It is the first time an outgoing president has failed to win a first-round vote in the past 50 years and makes it harder for Sarkozy to regain momentum.}}
  • (grammar) Of a tense, expressing action that has already happened or a previously-existing state.

    • Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • in a direction that passes
    • I watched him walk past

    Preposition

    (English prepositions)
  • beyond in place, quantity or time
    • the room past mine
    count past twenty
    past midnight
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2012 , date=April 22 , author=Sam Sheringham , title=Liverpool 0-1 West Brom , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=But they were stunned when Glen Johnson's error let in Peter Odemwingie to fire past Pepe Reina on 75 minutes.}}

    Usage notes

    * The preposition past is used to tell the time. The time 5:05 is said as five past five. 5:10 as ten past five. 5:15 as quarter past five. 5:20 as twenty past five. 5:25 as twenty-five past five. 5:30 as half past five. If we are aware of the approximate time, we can just use e.g. five past, ten past etc. See the example below. *: I thought it was about six o'clock, but it was actually ten past . * Compare with to (five to, ten to, quarter to, twenty to, twenty-five to) * See also: o'clock

    Related terms

    * past master * past it

    Statistics

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    Anagrams

    * 1000 English basic words ----