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TOEIC Link Part 5: Since vs. For With the Present Perfect

Since and for both mark duration, but Part 5 tests whether you can tell a point in time from a length of time. Since takes a starting point; for takes a span. Learn the rule, the present perfect partnership that makes the blank predictable, and the trap options that swap the two.

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TOEIC Link Part 5: Since vs. For With the Present Perfect

One of the most reliable Part 5 patterns puts a blank in front of a time expression and offers since and for as two of the choices. The question looks like vocabulary, but it is really a one-step grammar decision: does the time word name a point in time or a length of time? Answer that and the preposition is fixed. This guide gives you the rule, the verb tense that almost always sits next to the blank, and the swap traps the test plants.

The core rule: point vs. span

The two prepositions divide the work cleanly:

  • since marks a starting point — a moment the action began. It answers starting when?
  • for marks a length — how long the action has lasted. It answers how long?

The branch has been open since 2019. (starting point) The branch has been open for six years. (length) She has worked here since March. (point) She has worked here for three months. (span)

Notice that since 2019 and for six years can describe the same situation — but they package the time differently. Since points back to the moment it started; for measures the distance from then to now.

The present perfect partnership

Here is the detail that makes these questions predictable: both since and for in this sense almost always travel with the present perfect (has/have + past participle) or present perfect continuous (has/have been + -ing). The tense and the preposition reinforce each other, because the present perfect describes a situation that began in the past and continues to now — exactly the stretch of time since and for measure.

They have managed the account for two years. The system has been running smoothly since the upgrade.

So when you see has or have plus a participle and a time phrase in the blank, you are almost certainly in since/for territory. The only thing left to decide is point versus span. For the deeper logic of when the present perfect itself is the right tense, see our guide on sequence of tenses and tense consistency.

Reading the time expression

To choose, look only at the word that follows the blank and ask whether it is a clock/calendar point or a measured amount.

Points (take since): a specific year (since 2020), a month or day (since Monday), an event (since the merger), a clause with a past-tense verb (since she joined).

Spans (take for): a number plus a time unit (for ten minutes, for three weeks, for a decade), or a vague length (for a while, for ages).

We have not received a reply since the invoice was sent. (clause = point) We have not received a reply for five business days. (number + unit = span)

The clause test is worth memorizing: if the time expression is a full mini-sentence with its own past-tense verb, it names the moment something happened, so the answer is since.

The traps Part 5 plants

The exam exploits the same two confusions every time:

  1. The swap. A blank before three years offers since as a distractor. Since three years is wrong because three years is a length, not a point. Pair it with for.
  2. The wrong tense neighbor. Sometimes the verb is simple past (worked) rather than present perfect, which changes what fits. For can survive with the simple past (She worked here for three months, now finished), but since in the duration sense needs the present perfect. If the sentence uses has worked, since becomes available; if it uses plain worked for a completed past, lean toward for.

A quick gut check: read the sentence with your chosen preposition and confirm the time word answers the matching question — starting when? for since, how long? for for.

Don't confuse this with location prepositions

Since and for are time-only here, so do not let the question bleed into the broader preposition rules for places and other relationships. If your distractors include in, at, or on, the question may be testing a different point entirely — review our guide on prepositions of time and place to keep the categories separate.

Quick decision checklist

When a blank sits before a time expression and since or for is offered:

  1. Find the verb. Is it present perfect (has/have + participle)? That confirms you are in since/for territory.
  2. Look at the time word. Point in time → since. Measured length → for.
  3. Apply the clause test. A mini-sentence with a past-tense verb → since.
  4. Reject the swap. Never put since before a bare number + unit.

Master this single point-vs-span distinction and an entire recurring Part 5 question type collapses into a two-second decision.