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Your first "Hello, World": the present perfect with for and since

Learners practice the present perfect with for and since in this B1 English for IT lesson plan about a first week at work.

Grammar
Have or has + past participle for what is still true (I've worked here since Monday.), for + a period, since + a start, and How long have you…?
Topic
A developer's first week at Kestrel Cloud, a fictional payments startup, and its “Hello, World” task, with words like repo, clone, access rights and commit.
Activities
The “hello, world” story, a welcome email, a coffee chat with a buddy, for-or-since drills, a DM chat and open boxes, then a written reply and a recording.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Warm-up: Your First Week

    • PictureUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and talk about first weeksSpin the wheelUnlock
    • Study the first-week wordsVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and chooseChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2The Story: Hello, World

    • Read the story of the first “hello, world”ArticleUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer about the storyQuizUnlock

  3. Chapter 3At Work: Kenji's Welcome Email

    • Read Kenji's welcome emailReal-life documentTry it
    • True or false? Check the emailTrue or falseUnlock
    • Sort the phrases: welcome, offer help or introduceSort into columnsUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Listen: Coffee with Tom

    • Listen to Iryna and Tom in the office kitchenListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer about the conversationQuizUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Grammar: For or Since?

    • Study the scheme: for and sinceGrammar schemeTry it
    • Choose for or since to complete Iryna's messageChoose the optionTry it
    • Fill in the gaps with the present perfectFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer: how long?QuizUnlock
    • Complete the sentences: two sentences become oneFill in the gapsUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Speak Up: Meet Your New Team

    • Choose the best reply to AmaraChatTry it
    • Open a box and answer: how long have you…?Open the boxUnlock

  7. Chapter 7Homework: Your Path So Far

    • Read your phrase bankReal-life documentUnlock
    • Choose the correct option to complete the sentencesChoose the optionUnlock
    • Unscramble the words from the lessonAnagramUnlock
    • Write a reply to your new team leadWriting, checked by the teacherUnlock
    • Record your path so farSpeaking, checked by the teacherUnlock

24 exercises in 7 chapters. Start a 7-day free trial to open all of them, copy any part into your own lessons, and teach the lesson live.

Vocabulary

12 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+9 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • a terminal
  • a repo
  • a checklist
  • clone
  • access rights
  • set up
  • build
  • run
  • a commit

Grammar: present perfect with for and since

The present perfect with for and since joins the past to now: something started back then and is still going on. Through a first week at a new job, learners count time with for and name the start with since, ask How long have you…?, and switch to the past simple for a job that has ended.

Present perfect with for and since

It started in the past, and it is still true now. How long have you worked here? Since Monday.

Have or has + past participle

Build the tense from have or has and the past participle: I've worked here since Monday. Wes has worked on the app since the first line of code. Regular participles end in -ed or -d (tested, lived); irregular ones, such as been, known, written and led, have to be learned.

The form: have / has + past participle

WhoFormExample
I / you / we / theyhave ('ve) + past participleI've worked at Kestrel since Monday.
he / she / ithas ('s) + past participleWes has worked on the app since the first line of code.
QuestionHow long + have / has + subject + participle?How long have you lived in New York?
Short answerFor + a period. / Since + a point.For two years. / Since my coding course.

Past participles in this lesson

  • Regular verbs add -ed, or just -d after -e: work → worked, test → tested, live → lived, use → used
  • Irregular verbs: be → been, have → had, know → known, write → written, lead → led

For a period, since a starting point

For measures the whole stretch: for forty minutes, for two years. Since names the moment it began: since nine o'clock, since 2024, since my coding course, or a past simple clause, since I arrived. If you can count the time, it's for; if you can name the start, it's since.

Started in the past, still true now

pastnow
  • since: the start (Monday, nine o'clock)
  • for: the whole time (four days, two years)
  • now: still true

For or since?

for + a period of timesince + a point in time
for four dayssince Monday
for forty minutessince nine o'clock
for two yearssince 2024
for about a yearsince my coding course
for yearssince the dashboard beta
for a few hourssince I arrived (since + past simple)

Can you count it or name the start?

Can you count the time (four days, two years, an hour)? Use for. Can you name the start (Monday, nine o'clock, my first day)? Use since. To ask, use How long have / has…? In a short answer, you can say just the time: “For two years.” “Since Monday.”

Still true now, or finished?

I've lived in New York for two years means you still live there. I worked in IT support for three years is about a job that has ended, so it takes the past simple, even with for. A single finished moment needs the past simple too: Iryna started on Monday.

Still true now: present perfect

  • I've lived in New York for two years. (I live there now.)
  • Tom has been online since seven. (He's online now.)

Finished: past simple

  • I worked in IT support for three years. (I don't now.)
  • Iryna started at Kestrel on Monday. (one finished moment)

Typical mistakes

  • I work here since Monday.

    I've worked here since Monday.

    still true now + since → present perfect

  • I am here for two years.

    I've been here for two years.

    be → have been

  • I've used Kotlin since a year.

    I've used Kotlin for a year.

    a period → for

  • How long are you working here?

    How long have you worked here?

    How long + have / has + past participle

More lessons on this grammar: Present perfect lessons and exercises

Try the for and since exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

More exercises

What's in the lesson

  • 11 auto-checked exercises
  • 3 games
  • 2 teacher-checked tasks
  • 2 real-life documents
  • 1 article
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 1 audio clip
  • 1 picture
  • 1 transcript

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • say how long something has been true: I've lived in New York for two years. She's been our designer since the first sketch.
  • pick for for a period and since for a starting point: for four days, since Monday, since I arrived
  • ask and answer How long have you…? questions: How long have you used Kotlin? For about a year, since my coding course.
  • reply to a team lead's welcome with your experience, using the past simple for finished jobs: Before that, I worked in IT support for three years.

Lesson 2 continues Hello, team, unit 1 of English for IT B1 · Inside the Team, which builds the language for introducing yourself, your role and your stack. It follows lesson 1's present simple for roles and takes have + past participle, met for experiences in English A2.2 lesson 1, into time up to now. Lesson 3 closes the unit with question forms and a personal README. New colleagues ask how long you've been around, so the first coffee already needs for and since.

A wheel about first weeks and twelve words with pictures and audio, such as a terminal, a repo and a commit, open the lesson. The story traces the earliest known “hello, world” to Brian Kernighan's tutorial for the language B at Bell Labs. Kenji's welcome email sets out a first-week checklist; students check it as true or false and sort phrases for welcoming, offering help and introducing people. In an AI-voiced coffee chat, the onboarding buddy asks one How long…? question after another. Four self-checking drills follow the scheme, and the speaking chapter brings a DM chat with the team's designer and open boxes of questions.

Homework starts with a phrase bank, then a choice drill and an anagram of the lesson's words that check themselves. Students write a reply to a new team lead about their experience, with for or since at least three times, and record their path so far as if at a first standup; the teacher reviews both.

Grammar:
present perfect with for and since · How long have you…?
Topic:
first week at work · onboarding · hello, world

Teaching tips

  • Draw one timeline per learner, from their first day at work to today: the start date gives a since sentence, the length a for sentence, and the class asks How long have you worked there?
  • Collect the group's real numbers before the drills: years in IT, months on the current project, the year each learner started with their main tool. Every fact becomes one for and one since sentence.
  • Turn the welcome email into a template: in-company groups write one for their next new hire, with a checklist and three people to know, each introduced with has worked or has been.
  • One-to-one, play the onboarding buddy: welcome the learner as a new colleague, ask three How long…? questions and offer help, then swap roles, as one open box suggests.

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The whole course: English for IT B1 · Inside the Team

24 lessons at B1 for people who build, test or run software, in American English. Learners follow Iryna, a junior developer, through her first year at Kestrel Cloud, a fictional payments startup: standups, tickets, code review, chats across time zones and job interviews. Each lesson is built around a true story from software history.See the course

  1. Unit 1 Hello, team

    roles, stacks and first days: the present simple, the present perfect with for and since, question forms

    1. Lesson 1How big is a two-pizza team?Present simple for jobs and responsibilities
    2. Lesson 2 · you're hereYour first "Hello, World"Present perfect with for and since
    3. Lesson 3Write your personal READMEQuestion forms for getting to know colleagues

  2. Unit 2 The daily standup

    updates and blockers: the present simple and continuous, just, already and yet, have to and need to

    1. Lesson 4Why is it called a scrum?Present simple vs continuous and state verbs
    2. Lesson 5Done, not done yetPast simple, present perfect and going to for updates
    3. Lesson 6Help, I'm blocked!Have to, need to, don't have to and can't

  3. Unit 3 Bugs and tickets

    clear bug reports: the past continuous, imperatives and the zero conditional, quantifiers

    1. Lesson 7The first actual bugPast simple and past continuous for bug stories
    2. Lesson 8Steps to reproduceImperatives and the zero conditional for bug reports
    3. Lesson 9The email that couldn't go 500 milesQuantifiers in bug tickets

  4. Unit 4 Code review

    kind, useful comments: -ed and -ing adjectives, modals for suggestions, the first conditional

    1. Lesson 10What's a nit?-ed and -ing adjectives in review comments
    2. Lesson 11Could we maybe…?Modals for suggestions in code review
    3. Lesson 12Your first pull requestThe first conditional and unless in code review

  5. Unit 5 How it works

    explaining systems step by step: time clauses, the passive, relative clauses

    1. Lesson 13What happens when you type a URL?Time clauses with as soon as, until and once
    2. Lesson 14How is a barcode read?The present and past simple passive
    3. Lesson 15Draw it, then say itDefining relative clauses

  6. Unit 6 Remote and async

    chat, email and time zones: polite requests, future forms, the present perfect continuous

    1. Lesson 16Just say what you needPolite requests and indirect questions
    2. Lesson 17Your 9 a.m. is my noonFuture forms for plans across time zones
    3. Lesson 18Write it downPresent perfect continuous for status updates

  7. Unit 7 Users and clients

    user stories and plain explanations: verb + to or -ing, reported speech, comparisons

    1. Lesson 19As a user, I want…Verb + to or verb + -ing
    2. Lesson 20"The client said it was broken"Reported speech for client calls
    3. Lesson 21Explain it in ten hundred wordsComparisons for plain explanations

  8. Unit 8 Your next job

    resumes and interviews: used to, the past perfect, the second conditional

    1. Lesson 22A resume that shows resultsUsed to for your career path
    2. Lesson 23Tell me about a time when…The past perfect for STAR stories
    3. Lesson 24What would you do if…?The second conditional for interviews

Questions about this lesson

When do you use for and since?
Use for with a period and since with a starting point: for two years, for a few hours; since Monday, since 2024, since I arrived. For something that is still true, both go with the present perfect, not the present simple: I've worked here since Monday, never I work here since Monday. In a short answer, the time phrase is enough: Since Monday.
How do you use the present perfect with for and since?
Use have or has + past participle, then for or since, for something that began in the past and continues now: I've lived in New York for two years. He's been online since seven. The sentence tells the listener it's still true: you live there now, and he's still online. The B1 English for IT lesson Your first "Hello, World" on edio.ai practices it through a new developer's first week.
How do you ask "How long have you…?" questions?
Start with How long have you + past participle: How long have you lived in New York? How long have you used Kotlin? For one other person, use has: How long has she been on the team? Short answers need only the time: For about a year. Since my coding course. How long are you working here? and How long do you live here? are common mistakes.
How do you answer "How long have you been working here?"
Answer with for + a period or since + the start: For two years. Since March. Since Monday, so only four days. A full sentence can repeat the question's form or use the plain present perfect, because with work and live the two mean almost the same: I've been working here for two years. I've worked here for two years. Add the job before in the past simple: Before that, I worked in IT support.
Is it "since two years" or "for two years"?
It's for two years, because two years is a period. Since needs a point in time: since 2024, since Monday, since my first job. So it's I've used Kotlin for a year, not since a year, and He's worked here for years, not since years. The how-long quiz in Your first "Hello, World", a B1 English for IT lesson on edio.ai, sets this trap more than once.
Is it "I've worked" or "I worked" for three years?
It depends on whether the job still goes on: I've worked in QA for three years means you still work in QA, while I worked in IT support for three years means that job is over. For fits both tenses, so the verb, not the time phrase, tells the listener. A single finished moment always takes the past simple: I started on Monday, not I've started on Monday.
How do you welcome a new colleague in English?
Welcome a new colleague with a greeting, an offer of help and a few introductions: Welcome to the team! Great to have you here. Let me know if you get stuck. Then say who's who by what they do: Your buddy in the New York office will help you set up your laptop. Kenji's welcome email in Your first "Hello, World", a B1 English for IT lesson on edio.ai, adds a first-week checklist.
What does "clone the repo" mean?
To clone the repo means to copy a whole shared project onto your own computer. The repo is the shared place where a project's code and history live, and a commit is a saved change with a short message about it. A first-week checklist might say: Clone the Android repo, build the app and run it on a test phone. Then send your first commit for review.
How do I teach for and since to B1 adults?
Anchor both words in the learners' own careers: start dates for since, lengths of time for for. Draw a timeline from a start point to now, then ask How long have you worked in IT? and How long have you used your main tool? Add one finished job in the past simple, so the tenses stay apart. This lesson's drills go the same way, from choosing for or since to joining two sentences into one.
What's good homework for practicing for and since?
Good homework is a reply to a new team lead about your experience: how long you've worked in your field, how long you've used your main tool and what you did before. In the B1 English for IT lesson Your first "Hello, World" on edio.ai, a choice drill and an anagram check themselves; the reply, with for or since at least three times, and a recording of their path so far go to the teacher.
Are there interactive since and for exercises?
Yes: for-or-since choices and chats with instant feedback show at once which word fits. Without an account, this page plays four parts of Your first "Hello, World", a B1 English for IT lesson on edio.ai: Kenji's welcome email, a coffee chat with an onboarding buddy, a drill in which students choose for or since in a new developer's message, and a DM chat with the team's designer. The other exercises are locked.
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