Marc wrote in with a question for the English Master:

English is not my mother tongue; but I am very interested in improving my English. One of my problems is “Since.” What tense should I use after since? Example: I haven’t seen you, since…

“Since” is typically used to suggest a passage of time—from then until now, or between then and now—as we see in Marc’s example. In the example, since could be followed by a simple noun, such as “November”: I haven’t seen you since November.

However, Marc’s question suggests that he would like “since” to begin a clause, which is a group of words that has both a subject and a verb. In that case, we would follow “since” with a verb in the past tense: I haven’t seen you since you won the Olympic gold medal in fencing.

Extra Credit: “Since” can also mean “because,” or “inasmuch as.” If we use it in this sense, the verb that follows it could be in any tense. For example: We can go outside tomorrow, since the weather will be glorious.

Thanks a lot for the question, Marc!