# since 2 years ago



## Monsieur Raphael

Please could somebody help me translate the following: 

"I have not been confident with regard to french since 2 years ago"

Here's my attempt:

"Je n’ai été pas confident quant au français il y a deux années"

I am not sure about the since 2 years ago bit. 

Thanks


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## Alipeeps

It would be "depuis deux années" I think.

Using "Il y a" suggests past tense - a defined moment, something that happened in the past and finished in the past.

Using "depuis" suggests continuous - something that started in the past but is still happening.


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## Homosum

Monsieur Raphael said:


> Please could somebody help me translate the following:
> 
> "I have not been confident with regard to french since 2 years ago"
> 
> Here's my attempt:
> 
> "Je n’ai été pas confident quant au français il y a deux années"
> 
> I am not sure about the since 2 years ago bit.
> 
> Thanks


 
I'm sorry, but this translation doesn't work at all.
Try better :
 "Je ne suis pas très sûr de moi _en / avec le_ français depuis deux ans."


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## Homosum

Here, you will translate the present perfect by a present simple, because in french you use the present to express a continuous state.

For instance : "*I've been* married for 2 years" > "Je *suis* marié depuis deux ans."


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## tramtramno

"Cela fait deux ans que je ne suis pas sûr de moi en français"


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## Sbonke

tramtramno said:


> "Cela fait deux ans que je ne suis pas sûr de moi en français"


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## Aoyama

> I am not sure about the since 2 years ago bit


I'm not sure about it either ... Is that grammatically correct ? Combining *since *and *ago* ...
For the past two years ... 
Depuis deux ans/ces deux dernières années/ mon français ne me semble plus très fiable ... could be an option, but the original English sentence is a bit bizarre ...


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## Monsieur Raphael

Thanks very much everybody for your advice and for the unbelievable speed of your replies!


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## Homosum

Re-salut,

A mon avis, c'est ce qui correspondrait en français à la forme (très orale) : "depuis il y a deux ans", c'est-à-dire : "depuis tel évènement survenu il y a deux ans".


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## Alipeeps

Aoyama said:


> I'm not sure about it either ... Is that grammatically correct ? Combining *since *and *ago* ...
> For the past two years ...
> Depuis deux ans/ces deux dernières années/ mon français ne me semble plus très fiable ... could be an option, but the original English sentence is a bit bizarre ...


 
It's perfectly correct in English to say "since two years ago". 

It would in fact be incorrect to say merely "since two years" - you need to "ago" to signify the past. Another way to express this in English would be to say, "for the last two years" or "for the past two years".


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## Alixfont

The English of the original sentence is not correct.  It would be better to  say: 
I haven't been sure of my French for two years.
The original sentence shows non-standard usage of the words "confident", "with regard to" and "since".   The sentence is not that of a native English speaker.


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## Aoyama

> A mon avis, c'est ce qui correspondrait en français à la forme (très orale) : "depuis il y a deux ans", c'est-à-dire : "depuis tel évènement survenu il y a deux ans".


Très orale, bien d'accord, mais grammaticalement éminemment critiquable. Combiner depuis et il y a (au même titre que since et ago - ou aussi for) est un barbarisme ...


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## Homosum

Voilà, c'est ce que je pensais.


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## Aoyama

> The English of the original sentence is not correct. It would be better to say:
> I haven't been sure of my French for two years.
> The original sentence shows non-standard usage of the words "confident", "with regard to" and "since". The sentence is not that of a native English speaker.


We entirely agree on that.


> I haven't been sure of my French for two years.


I haven't been sure of my French for the last/past two years.
I have lost confidence with/regarding my French "since two years ago" (if this is really OK in BE)...


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## Alipeeps

Alixfont said:


> The English of the original sentence is not correct. It would be better to say:
> I haven't been sure of my French for two years.
> The original sentence shows non-standard usage of the words "confident", "with regard to" and "since". *The sentence is not that of a native English speaker*.


 
Since the original poster's nationality and language are stated as England and English, I would have to dispute that assertation.  His/her phrasing is perhaps not as lyrical as it could be but it is perfectly grammatically correct.

You personally might prefer to phrase it differently but that is more question of style - there is nothng grammatically wrong with the OP's English sentence - not by UK English standards, anyway.


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## Aoyama

> His/her phrasing is perhaps not as lyrical as it could be but it is perfectly grammatically correct.


Well, "la perfection n'est pas de ce monde", as we know well ...


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## octoplasm

I agree with alipeeps (for North American English). Perhaps not the best phrasing, but grammatically correct.


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## Alixfont

In the United States, the American-English usage books are "The Chicago Manual of Style" and the "MLA Guide" (Modern Language Association) which print rules for grammar and writing stylistics required by American universities, testing agencies, government texts and newspapers. "Fowler's Modern English Usage" is recommended as is Wikepedia: Manual of Style for the internet Wikepedia Encyclopedia.
In these works, one finds that the word "since" as a conjunctive adverb should 
be used to apply unambiguous time  to the adverbial clause which the adverb introduces to qualify the action of the main verb.  The phrase "since two years ago" is ambiguous according the the "Chicago Manual of Style" (for American English) because the "since phrase" should have a date or a subject and verb to make the time span or action clear in reference to the primary phrase. It would be better to say, "I have been uncertain of the French language since my Parisien nanny quit two years ago." Or, "I have been unsure of French since I moved back to Vancouver in 2005."
For Monsieur Raphael,  you might order a Barnes & Noble Guide to the (American)
SAT (Scolastic Aptitude Test) to find the usual grammar traps on the test of American English: the word "since" is one of the traps on every test.


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## Aoyama

I agree with the above.


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## Shang Qin Li

Let's make it all simple:
1) _since _cannot be associated with _ago_
2) _since_ and _for_ = _depuis_. If you can replace since (or for) in French par _il y a tant de temps que_..." then it is _for_, else it's since
I haven't seen him _since_ Xmas" = "il y a Xmas que je ne l'ai pas vu". Doesn't work ! Hence _depuis_ = _since_
"I haven't seen him _fo_r 3 years = il y a 3 ans que je ne l'ai pas vu
It works; _depuis_ = _for_
I met him ten years _ago_ = je l'ai rencontré _il y a_ 10 ans (not _"il y a 10 ans que_...)
_Now be careful with the verb tenses
*Have + past participle* with *since* and *for* (depuis)
*Simple past* with *ago*

"I have not been confident with regard to french since 2 years ago" is grammatically wrong
"I have not been confident with regard to french for the last two years" is right

_


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## Aoyama

I equally agree with the above.
This also shows that grammatical "exactitude" is not as precise as it could/should be among native English speakers around the world ...


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## pbayle

Shang Qin Li said:


> Let's make it all simple:
> 1) _since _cannot be associated with _ago_
> 2) _since_ and _for_ = _depuis_. If you can replace since (or for) in French par _il y a tant de temps que_..." then it is _for_, else it's since
> I haven't seen him _since_ Xmas" = "il y a Xmas que je ne l'ai pas vu". Doesn't work ! Hence _depuis_ = _since_
> "I haven't seen him _fo_r 3 years = il y a 3 ans que je ne l'ai pas vu
> It works; _depuis_ = _for_
> I met him ten years _ago_ = je l'ai rencontré _il y a_ 10 ans (not _"il y a 10 ans que_...)
> _Now be careful with the verb tenses
> *Have + past participle* with *since* and *for* (depuis)
> *Simple past* with *ago*
> 
> "I have not been confident with regard to french since 2 years ago" is grammatically wrong
> "I have not been confident with regard to french for the last two years" is right
> 
> _



Your rule 1 is too global. It is perfectly correct and idiomatic to say, "Since his death two years ago." One needs the event that occurred in past in order to be able to use Since with Ago. By itself, "Since two years" is a phrase used by nonnative speakers who are attempting to translate literally the expression from their native language.


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## Aoyama

> It is perfectly correct and idiomatic to say, "Since his death two years ago."


That is very true, because here two elements are involved.


> since cannot be _immediately_ associated with ago


 like in "since two years ago". "Since (something happened) two years ago" would be alright.


> "Since two years" is a phrase used by nonnative speakers who are attempting to translate literally the expression from their native language.


True also, a classic ...


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## Shang Qin Li

First I never said "since two years" was correct
Second, since with ago in the same sentence may be an idiom in the US, but, I've never heard it in the UK. And my grammar handbook doesn't mention it.
As regards "Since his death two years ago", I would put a comma
ie: "Since his death, two years ago....."


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## pbayle

Shang Qin Li said:


> First I never said "since two years" was correct
> Second, since with ago in the same sentence may be an idiom in the US, but, I've never heard it in the UK. And my grammar handbook doesn't mention it.
> As regards "Since his death two years ago", I would put a comma
> ie: "Since his death, two years ago....."



I wasn't suggesting that you claimed that "Since two years" was correct. I was just making a general observation tacked on to my observation about your Rule 1. As for the correctness of  putting  "since" and  "ago" together, it was not I, but a native speaker and resident of the UK who claimed that it was correct (Alipeep, I believe). I claimed only that they could work together if one inserted an event in the past, such as "his death." Inserting the comma is certainly correct, but I'm not sure if omitting it would be incorrect.


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## Shang Qin Li

Dear Pbayle,
If it used as an idiom, I suppose you can do without the comma. Still, the fact that I never heard that idiom before, doesn't mean it is not in use nowadays. I do not know everything. I prefer to keep on the safe side and abide by the rules of grammar that were taught to me, for the time being, at least. But I do admit my first reaction when I read *since 2 years ago* was that of surprise*.*


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## Aoyama

> I do admit my first reaction when I read since 2 years ago was that of surprise.


What was more of a surprise to me was that a few British native speakers (as was apparently Monsieur Raphael who initiated this thread and wrote the original sentence) claimed that the sentence was "very correct" ...


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## Staarkali

Note that _confident_ is _confiant_ in French.

_Confident_ in French is _confidant_ in English (the person you trust enough to share your secrets)


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## Shang Qin Li

Dear Aoyama,
I AM a British native speaker.... and yet....! Who can be pretentious enough as to claim he knows everything and systematically has to agree with everyone ? I personally would not use *since 2 years ago.* My choice, as per the rules of grammar.


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## The Prof

Hi
Like Aoyama, I think that the "since two years ago" part of the sentence sounds wrong, in that it feels incomplete. It sounds as if it should go on to name the event of two years ago that caused the subsequent lack of confidence:
ie:* ... since two years ago, when someone teased my about my accent.*


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## mally pense

Personally, I'd say _"for the last two years"_ or _"for the past couple of years",_ but I'm curious as to the situation _before_ that. Was the subject of the sentence confident with his/her French previously and somehow lost the confidence like The Prof has just suggested for example. I don't know if this affects the translation, but if the original text is only _part_ of the sentence it may be pertinent... as The Prof has intimated.


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## Aoyama

Once again, the reasoning is simple,the combination of since and ago is possible IF another clause is involved.
- "since two years ago, when someone teased me about my accent" (when ... being the second clause)
-"Since his death two years ago" (his death ...)
- my French has gone bad, since I left Paris, two years ago.
In the case of :


> "I have not been confident with regard to french since 2 years ago"


 it is a _conclusive phrase_, meaning that no further element (clause) comes after what has been stated (here : not being confident regarding one's ability in French), that is why the combination of both _since_ and _ago_ should not be possible because _only one element_ is concerned , using _two prepositions/adverbs_.


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## mally pense

It certainly sounds awkward, and this technical explanation sounds convincing enough. If I can add, for me "since" is usually used with an absolute or relative time or date, or some other date/time reference such as "since the year dot" or "since time immemorial", but not with a time period, hence "since 2006" or "since four o'clock" is normal, but not perhaps "since two hours/years ago".


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## Aoyama

In fact, come to think of it, you could very well have :
"I have lost confidence with/in my ability in French since I left France 2 years ago".



> but not perhaps "since two hours/years ago"


This "perhaps" is interesting , if not puzzling ...
But still (and here , ALWAYS the second clause), a sentence like :
"The Euro has been in circulation since two hours ago" (a bit different than "for two hours", where the _stress_ sounds somewhat different) is (to me) very possible.


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## Shang Qin Li

Aoyama said:


> In fact, come to think of it, you could very well have :
> "I have lost confidence with/in my ability in French since I left France 2 years ago".
> 
> 
> This "perhaps" is interesting , if not puzzling ...
> But still (and here , ALWAYS the second clause), a sentence like :
> "The Euro has been in circulation since two hours ago" (a bit different than "for two hours", where the _stress_ sounds somewhat different) is (to me) very possible.


 
"I have lost confidence with/in my ability in French since I left France"
That is perfect.... in the sense we all understand what you mean, but it is one more proof that our old grammar is right:
"I have lost confidence.... since I left France" is 100% correct
Now you want to add another information: "2 weeks ago" in order to specifiy *WHEN *you left France.
So OK,
*BUT*, then, you must have a *comma*
" I have lost confidence.... since I left France*, *(*comma*) 2 years ago.
In this case I agree.
Or to put it another way:
"I *left *France 2 weeks *ago*, and *since* then I *have* lost confidence....etc"
....I don't think the think-tanks in Oxford or Cambridge would disagree...


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## Aoyama

I'll go with the comma, but not an outright must, mind you ...


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## Monsieur Raphael

Hi, 

Thanks for all the posts. I've just logged on and seen how many responses there were and may I say reading them has provided me with unendless entertainment. You lot are comic geniuses or should I say genii?

Just to clear some points up. I am english and am a native speaker. Furthermore, I posted the thread in a rush and I am afraid at the time of posting I did not have my Barnes and Noble grammar guide to hand! Also, as you may notice there was not a full stop at the end of the phrase I required translating. The phrase actually ended with "when I was staying with a french family." In the future I will have to be sure to post the full sentence or put ellipses, as this ommission has clearly lead to some of you wasting a lot of your time. 

Thanks again for the replies.


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