Basics: For, Since, and Ago
This challenge contains 12 questions at easy difficulty covering Basics: For, Since, and Ago. Test your knowledge with a mix of question formats!
Try the quiz to check your knowledge!
Complete the passive-aggressive sticky note left on the shared apartment fridge. Select the correct word to fill in the blank.
That mysterious green Tupperware container has been sitting on the bottom shelf _____ last November.
The correct answer is since.
We use since to refer to a specific starting point in the past (like "last November", "Tuesday", or "2015"). Because the container's stay in the fridge started in November and continues to the present, "since" is the perfect fit!
Complete the dramatic barista's explanation to a confused customer by dragging the correct words into the blanks.
I'm so sorry, but we can't make your cappuccino. Our main espresso machine broke down two hours ago. The manager has been crying in the back room for forty-five minutes, and we haven't successfully served a single latte since this morning!
Our main espresso machine broke down two hours ago.
Use ago with the simple past tense to show how much time has passed between an event and now.
The manager has been crying in the back room for forty-five minutes.
Use for to measure a period or duration of time (forty-five minutes).
...we haven't successfully served a single latte since this morning!
Use since to refer to a specific point in time when an action started (this morning).
Fill in the blanks in this panicked college student's text messages to a friend before a big exam.
I finally started studying for this biology exam exactly ten minutes ago. I have been staring at the exact same page of my textbook for an hour without reading a single word. Honestly, I haven't felt this unprepared since my freshman year!
I finally started studying for this biology exam exactly ten minutes ago.
Use ago after a time expression to show how far in the past something happened. It pairs with the simple past tense ("started").
I have been staring at the exact same page of my textbook for an hour...
Use for to express a length or duration of time (an hour).
Honestly, I haven't felt this unprepared since my freshman year!
Use since to point to a specific moment or period in the past when something began (my freshman year).
Help Count Dracula complain to his doctor about his new diet. Choose the correct word to complete his sentence.
I haven't had a proper bite of O-negative blood _____ three centuries!
The correct answer is for.
We use for to talk about a duration or period of time (like "three centuries", "two weeks", or "five minutes").
Since is used for a specific starting point in time, and ago is used with the simple past to show how far back something happened.
I moved into this apartment exactly six months ago. I haven't seen you wash a single dish for three entire weeks! Furthermore, you haven't taken out the trash since my birthday...
Ago is used with the simple past to show how far back in time something happened (e.g., six months ago).
For is used with a period or duration of time (e.g., for three weeks).
Since is used with a specific starting point in the past (e.g., since my birthday).
I started my career as a professional cat-petter ten years ago. I have been petting felines professionally for a decade... I have not been scratched by a single cat since 2015!
Use ago to talk about a time in the past measured from the present (ten years ago).
Use for to express the length of time an action has lasted (for a decade).
Use since to identify the exact moment an action started (since 2015).
Help Vlad the vampire update his modern dating profile by dragging the correct time words into his bio.
I am a very loyal partner. In fact, I have been pretending to be a "high school student" for eighty years. I haven't seen my best friend Dracula since the late 1800s, but we still text. If you like my style, you should know I bought this trendy leather jacket exactly fifty years ago.
I have been pretending to be a "high school student" for eighty years.
Use for to talk about a duration or length of time (eighty years).
I haven't seen my best friend Dracula since the late 1800s.
Use since to talk about a specific starting point in the past (the late 1800s).
I bought this trendy leather jacket exactly fifty years ago.
Use ago to talk about how far back in the past something happened. It is used with the simple past tense and comes after the time phrase (fifty years).
Finish the dramatic teenager's text message to her best friend. Choose the correct word to complete the sentence.
Can you believe he read my message exactly five minutes _____ and still hasn't replied?!
The correct answer is ago.
We use ago with a period of time to express how far back in the past an event happened (e.g., "five minutes ago", "two days ago"). It is almost always used with the simple past tense (in this case, "he read").
I arrived in the year 1885 just two days ago. I have been looking for an electrical outlet to charge my smartphone for 48 hours without any luck. My battery has been completely dead since Tuesday...
Ago follows a length of time to show when a past event happened (two days ago).
For goes before a duration of time (for 48 hours).
Since goes before a specific point in time when the situation began (since Tuesday).
The correct answers are: I have worked the night shift since 1897. I have been unemployed for two centuries. I last saw the sun over four hundred years ago.
Since pairs perfectly with specific points in time, like a specific year (since 1897).
For requires a duration of time, like two centuries or a long time. You cannot say "since a long time" or "for 1897".
Ago is placed after a period of time to indicate a point in the past (four hundred years ago).
The correct answers are: I have lived with these dirty dishes for three days! He abandoned these dishes in the sink three days ago! These dirty dishes have been here since Monday!
For is used with a duration or length of time (e.g., for three days).
Since is used with a specific starting point in time (e.g., since Monday).
Ago is used to show how far back in the past something happened, and is used with the simple past tense (e.g., three days ago).
The correct answers are: I started learning spells five years ago. I have practiced the invisibility spell for six months. I have been a certified wizard since last December.
Five years ago correctly uses ago with the simple past tense (started).
For six months correctly uses for to show a duration of time.
Since last December correctly uses since to indicate a specific starting point.
"Since five years" is incorrect because "five years" is a duration (it should be for five years). "For two weeks ago" incorrectly mixes two different time expressions.
Preposition
Preposition vs particle: same words (in, on, up, off), different jobs. A preposition links to a noun (look at the book). A particle changes verb meaning without a noun (give up = quit). Test: is there a noun/pronoun after it forming a prepositional phrase? → preposition. Does it change the verb's meaning? → particle in a phrasal verb.
A preposition = small word connecting a noun to the sentence (time, place, manner, relationship). Choice is idiomatic per verb/adjective combination.
Diagnostic: struggling with which preposition to use? It's almost never about logic — look up the specific verb/adjective + preposition combination.
English Grammar Basics
Basics vs intermediate/advanced grammar: if you're unsure whether to study articles or conditionals, tense basics or reported speech — you need to check whether your foundations are solid first. Basics covers everything up to A2.
English Grammar Basics groups the core building blocks: nouns, verbs, adjectives, prepositions, present/past tenses, questions, and negation.
Diagnostic: if you still hesitate over she don't vs she doesn't, or a vs an — start here. Master these and intermediate topics stop feeling random.
A2 | Elementary | Pre-intermediate
A2 vs B1: A2 handles routine transactions and simple past narration. B1 handles connected discourse, explaining reasons, and understanding main points in clear standard speech. If you can tell what happened but not why it matters, you're still A2.
A2 is the elementary level of the CEFR: past simple, present perfect, first conditional, basic modals, and routine communication about familiar topics.
Diagnostic: can you link ideas with because, although, so that and hold a conversation beyond scripted topics? No → A2. Yes → moving into B1.
Easy
Easy vs Medium vs Hard: Easy = one rule, obvious answer, A1–A2. Medium = one rule but realistic distractors, A2–B1. Hard = interacting rules, edge cases, B2+. Start Easy to check you have the basics before moving up.
The Easy tag filters for single-rule, short-sentence, common-vocabulary challenges designed for beginners or for anyone wanting a confidence check on fundamentals.
Diagnostic: if you get Easy questions wrong, stay here — your foundations need work. If they feel trivial, move to Medium.