since 2 years ago?

[aikilychee]

Is it grammatical to say "since 2 years ago"?

I did notice some people use "from a year ago".

Thanks!

 

[Nahualli]

No, that's not correct. I can't think of any sentence which requires "since 2 years ago" in it.

"I moved here two years ago"
"I've been working here for the past two years"
"My mother has not been to Mexico in two years"

etc...

Would it be possible to get some context for this sentence? I might be able to help more if I knew what you're trying to say.

".. from a year ago" is an odd construct.. it's pointing at something that's basically anachronistic although the term itself is awkward. Where have you seen this used? With that phrase you're basically pointing out something that is a year old, in which case you simply say ".... is a year old" I guess what I'm saying is that it's technically correct but it's a weird sentence and I've never heard it being used like that.

-Nah-

 

[aikilychee]

Thank you for your reply, Nah.

Actually I am proofreading an English workbook for junor high students, and I kept coming across this expression, like "They have been studying Japanese since 2 years ago". I corrected the first one without doubt, but then when more cropped up, I just couldn't help wondering if I myself had made a mistake. So I looked up the word "since" in the dictionary, and found the expression "since a long time ago", which made me more confused.

As to "from a year ago", I'd like to give one example from http://money.cnn.com/2003/10/23/technology/techinvestor/lamonica/ well, by googling )

"Only two analysts follow the stocks but for what it's worth, they are predicting that third quarter revenues for Netease.com will more than double from a year ago. "

 

[Nahualli]

Ok, in that respect then, the expression's wrong.

As for your second example with the stock prices, that's a good example. I don't personally find myself using that construct too often but I suppose it works

-Nah-

 

[Casiopea]

Thank you for your reply, Nah.

Actually I am proofreading an English workbook for junor high students, and I kept coming across this expression, like "They have been studying Japanese since 2 years ago". I corrected the first one without doubt, but then when more cropped up, I just couldn't help wondering if I myself had made a mistake. So I looked up the word "since" in the dictionary, and found the expression "since a long time ago", which made me more confused.

As to "from a year ago", I'd like to give one example from http://money.cnn.com/2003/10/23/technology/techinvestor/lamonica/ well, by googling )

"Only two analysts follow the stocks but for what it's worth, they are predicting that third quarter revenues for Netease.com will more than double from a year ago. "

In addition,

With regards to for vs. since, when in doubt add in the phrase "a period of":

Use 'for' with a period of time, and use 'since' with a specific date/time:

for 6 years ("a period of" 6 years)
since Friday (a specific day)
for 12 months ("a period of" 12 months)
since last year (i.e. 2003, a specific year)
for an hour ("a period of" an hour)
since 2:00 (a specific time)

EX: They've been studying Japanese for 2 years (a period of two years).
EX: They've been studying Japanese since 2002 (a specific year)

2) With regards to your Google finding, the writer omitted a few words:

...will more than double from (the rate it was at) a year ago.