subordinating conjunction / preposition · neutral
since
/sɪns/SINCE
used to give a reason (because) or to indicate time (from then until now); context decides the meaning
Examples
“Since the roads were icy, several accidents occurred.”
“She has been ill since last Monday.”
“Since we had no evidence, the claim was rejected.”
Band 8 sentence
“Since empirical evidence is limited, further large-scale trials are necessary before policy implementation.”
Collocations
- since + clause (reason)
- since + time expression (from then)
Word family
Common mistakes
I went to bed since I was tired.→I went to bed because I was tired. / Since I was tired, I went to bed.
I have lived here since five years.→I have lived here for five years. / I have lived here since 2016.
Say it for a higher band
5because→6as→7+since
Synonyms
because
Easily confused
because
“Since the sample size was small, the results are inconclusive.”
Related words
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In Cause & effect
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