Presentation / Objective

Prepositions since and for

Welcome to this lesson!

Observe the images below:

Whether we like it or not, change is a constant. Every day a lot of people have to leave their hometowns for work or study. Sometimes when they return home, their homes have changed. A lot of things in their cities or towns have changed since they left.

For example, all the different activities you were able to do no longer happen. For instance:

The ice cream was sold in your street since you were six years old.
Children were allowed to play outside for long periods.

This unit, you will help you differentiate between For and Since in the context of passive voice.

Take a look at the objectives of this topic which you will have to complete.

Objective

By the end of this topic you will:

be able to use the expressions for and since in the context of activities in a city using passive voice.

Now that you know what you will be able to do at the end of this lesson, it is time for you to begin.

Content

Hey there! How is it going?

Let me introduce myself. My name is Trish, I’m 21 years old, and I’m a university student. Throughout this lesson, I will tell you different bits of my story and about how I left my town 7 years ago to study. I will tell you about the various activities that the people and I did in my hometown. I will also share how some of those things have changed through time. We will make some stops in the story so you can tell me about yourself. It is essential that we explore some grammar aspects that will help you with your final task. So, let’s get it done!

So, I’ll tell you about my city. I was born in the town of San Francisco, in Northern California. There are so many exciting and cultural aspects that make my city beautiful. Let me share some of them.

Watching the video: Now, watch the video “San Francisco: The city by the bay.”

San Francisco is a beautiful city, isn’t it? I hope you have enjoyed the video and some of the interesting facts. Did you learn a lot? Check it with the next exercise.

I’m sure you did! Now, let’s get a little bit more down to the issue, ok? Let’s explore the Grammar Structure.

Did you notice how sometimes we choose a passive voice instead of active voice? Take a look at the following examples taken from the video.

Passive voice is not something new for you, but maybe you just want to have a look at the following example:

The Chinese cookie was invented by a Japanese resident of San Francisco.

Grammatically speaking the passive voice of a sentence is given by the use of the verb to be and the past participle of the main verb.

The Chinese cookie was invented by a Japanese resident of San Francisco.

In a passive voice sentence, the first element displayed is the object of the action.

The Chinese cookie was invented by a Japanese resident of San Francisco.

In a passive sentence, if we want to mention the doer of the action, it must be given at the end of the sentence after the preposition by.

When writing a passive sentence is important to consider if we want to emphasize who does or did something. Consider the following example:

When Al Capone was held in Alcatraz, he gave concerts with the prison band.

In such a sentence, we want to emphasize the fact that an infamous person such as Al Capone gave concerts, which is why we use was held. Who held him? It is evident, he was imprisoned by the Federal Government; right? So we don’t need to mention it.

There are times, we have to mention the subject because it makes much more sense, for instance:

On August 29, 1966, The Beatles gave their last full concert at Candlestick Park, SF.

With such an amazing and famous band it makes much more sense to mention them as the subject, rather than:

A last full concert at Candlestick Park SF was given by The Beatles on August 29, 1966.

Got it? The point is to have a clear idea of what we want to emphasize in our speech.

The following are interesting facts about my city. Some of the sentences emphasize who does the action (active) some others emphasize what is being done (passive).

So what do you think of my city? Are you enjoying it? There is so much more to know about it. Do you want to know what the most exciting landmarks to visit are? We will also have a look at the way we use the prepositions for and since. So here we go!

San Francisco is definitely one of the most diverse places in California. Don't you agree? Did you notice that most of our landmarks have a lot of history?

Let's take a look at these four examples:

a) The Cable Car Museum has been opened since 1979

As you can see the preposition SINCE is used to show the moment where something started:

b) Pier 39 has been visited since it opened in 1977

However, this is not the only way we can express time:

c) The Golden Gate Bridge has been opened for 79 years

In C and D we can observe that we mention the amount of time, rather than the starting point:

d) Alcatraz was a Federal Penitentiary for 29 years.

Look at the following chart that will help you sum up this idea of duration:

FOR
SINCE

FOR

For is the preposition used to express the concept of time:

i.e. San Francisco was inhabited by Spaniards for hundreds of years.

SINCE

SINCE. Preposition that when used with the idea of time, expresses the moment when something began to happen:

i.e. The Golden Gate has been in service since 1937

Now that we have gone through the main contents of this lesson, it is time for you to practice with the four skills of the language. So, let's start.

Reading

Activity 1

The largest Chinatown outside Asia

When people migrate, they bring with them not only their belongings but also a part of their identity and their culture. We will read about Chinatown a great neighbourhood in San Francisco. A place full of flavour, commerce and culture, but what is precisely culture?

Before reading
Exploring your knowledge

Make a brainstorming activity. Think of all the possible words and concepts related to the idea of culture and migration. Check the text about The story of Chinatown.

While reading.
Consider the following ideas while you read the text.

What makes people migrate?
What difficulties can an immigrant suffer?
What can help an immigrant adapt to the new context?

Listening

Activity 2

San Francisco’s Mission District

San Francisco is one of the most Cosmopolitan cities in the world. The multi-ethnicity can be perceived everywhere you go. But even the most cosmopolitan city has its roots. You’ll watch a video showing one of the oldest neighbourhoods in San Francisco. At the end of the video, you will have to answer a short questionnaire on some of the aspects you watched in the video.

Before listening

Before going straight to the video, let’s see how much you remember about San Francisco. Decide if the following statements are True or False by choosing the appropriate option. At the end of the exercise, you can know your score.

While you listen
San Francisco’s Mission District

Watch the video about one of the most historic and iconic neighbourhoods in San Francisco. While you watch the video consider the following aspects:

What makes the Mission District an essential part of the history of San Francisco?
What is the relationship between Latin America and Mission District?

Watch the video here.

After you watch the video, re-write the sentences.

Let’s see how well you can re-write the sentences.
Read the following sentences taken from the video and re-write them in passive voice or active voice as appropriate. If necessary, you can watch the video again.

Writing

Activity 3

Tell a story

People say that a picture is worth a thousand words. However, sometimes we need to clarify what we want to say because we could be misunderstood. Therefore, we need words that express meaning too!

In the following activity, you will create a story using a different set of pictures of events in The Bay. Let's see how creative you are!

The task
Was it easy to identify the pictures? I'm sure it was! We've seen some of them since we began the lesson, so you must already be familiar with some of them.

Let's begin the writing process.

You have a total of 6 pictures to develop a story.

Drag and place the pictures in a sequence that best describes the story. You can download the images if you prefer.

Write a story in a Word document that reflects the sequence you chose. You have to include the phrases below in your work. However, you can only use them once.

• Since 2014
• was painted
• for 3 hours
• was attended by a lot of people
• has been driven since this morning

You can evaluate yourself using the rubrics. Follow the example to have an idea.

Speaking

Activity 4

Tell me about your neighbourhood

So far we’ve been talking about different landmarks, facts and new areas that you can find in San Francisco.

But now I want to know more about you. In this activity, you will practice the use of the passive voice and the prepositions For and Since while talking about the essential places and interesting cultural facts about your city. Ready? Let’s prepare the task!

Set up your presentation

The following guidelines are designed to help you remember all the crucial aspects of your performance. You don’t need to answer the questions, but you have to include all the elements as indicated.

When was your city/town established?
Do you know any historical events related to the establishment of your city/town?
What is your city/town famous for?
What famous landmarks are there? And for how long have they been there?
What’s the oldest place in your city/town? Since when has it been there? What is it like?

The task
For your presentation, you will need to make short audio or video with the following characteristics:

Should be no longer than 5 minutes.
Should include details of your neighbourhood or the places in your city that you describe.
You need to include in your speech the grammar points we covered up in this lesson: passive voice and use of For and Since:

i.e. The Stadium has been used for different soccer matches since 1964.

Use the next page to record your answers https://vocaroo.com/.

Once you have done your recording, listen to it and evaluate it using the following rubrics.

Follow the example:

Self-assessment

Some historical facts about San Francisco

Let’s have a final look at some historical facts about the City of San Francisco and its foundation. Instructions: Read the following sentences. Complete the sentences using For or Since according to the moment mentioned. Remember, if you have any questions on the use of these prepositions, you can always go back to the content section.

Drag the different options to the appropriate spaces to complete the sentences. At the end of the exercise, you can know your score.

Reference

Basic references

Sevastopolous, J (2016). Grammar quizzes. California.
Retrieved on 2017, August 21 from:
http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/preps_for-since.html

>BBC Learning English. (2016). Grammar challenge.
Retrieved on 2017, August 21 from:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/149_gramchallenge25/

Shoebottom, P. (2016) Frankfurt International School. A guide to learn English.
Retrieved on 2017, August 21 from:
http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/rules/since.htm

Education First (2016). Gramática inglesa. Madrid
Retrieved on 2017, August 21 from:
https://www.ef.com.es/recursos-aprender-ingles/gramatica-inglesa/present-perfect-con-for-since/

Eastaugh, B. & Sternal-Johnson, C. (2016). Motivated grammar.
Retrieved on 2017, August 21 from:
https://motivatedgrammar.wordpress.com/2012/05/03/using-since/

Complementary references

Michael, C. (2015) History of Chinatown. Retrieved on 2017, August 21 from:
http://www.sanfranciscochinatown.com/index.html

Pedersen, E. (2016) San Francisco.com
Retrieved on 2017, August 21 from:
http://www.sanfrancisco.com/history/

Ficha de créditos
Coordinación general	Jorge León Martínez
Coordinación de desarrollo	Edith Tapia Rangel
Coordinación académica	Ana Lilia Villegas Pacheco
Elaboración del contenido	Alan Sánchez Vázquez
Administración del proyecto	Maricarmen Hernández Cervantes
Coordinación de asesoría pedagógica	Elisa Campero Malo Susana Claudio Vargas
Asesoría pedagógica	Irma Gabriela Torres Prieto
Coordinación de diseño gráfico e integración	Juan de Dios Fuentes Reyes Fabiola Moncada Cortés
Diseño gráfico e integración	Nohemí Fabián Martínez