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We normally use "since" to mean "from a time in the past until a later past time, or until now".

Can we use "since" in future tenses, for example, "I will be free since 6pm today. Now is 3pm"?

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    This is something I’ve mainly heard from ESL speakers whose native language is German (although more often with the present tense).
    – Davislor
    Jul 27 at 21:46
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    @Davislor I've seen unusual uses of "since" from native speakers of various languages. I generally assume that their language uses the same word for "since" and "after", so it's hard for them to translate to English's distinction.
    – Barmar
    Jul 28 at 0:27
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    Note that it would be more idiomatic to say "Now it is 3pm".
    – psmears
    Jul 28 at 14:19

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Yes we can use "since" with some future tenses, but "will" is not one of them. Future perfect, however, is:

I will have been free since 6 pm.

Though this isn't the most natural way to phrase the idea, the grammar is good. A more natural context would be one where the duration is being emphasized, not the starting point:

A: Let's go dancing after I finish work tomorrow.
B: No thanks. I'll have been on my feet since 9 am, so the last thing I'll want to do is dance.

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    The OP asks "Can we use since for future tenses, e.g., "I will be free since 6pm today". Now is 3pm"? The answer should begin with a NO. The OP's example is ungrammatical for both clauses. The Future Perfect does not really refer to a future event but rather makes a prediction as to when an action will be completed at some point in the future, e.g., He will have sent off fifty applications by the end of this month. OR He will have applied fifty times since the beginning of July. The OP cannot say "He will send 50 applications since July 2nd" X
    – Mari-Lou A
    Jul 28 at 11:47
  • @Mari-LouA The OP's question is about "future tenses" generally, but includes an example that happens not to work. The answer is absolutely "Yes, but...". The answer "No" means "No, you can never use since with a future tense", which is incorrect.
    – gotube ♦
    Jul 28 at 21:23
  • Was Abolfazi's highly upvoted answer deleted because it was AI generated? Wow, that answer totally convinced me. I mean, I still think it was a better answer but it did not sound GPT-like. Or was it plagiarised?
    – Mari-Lou A
    Jul 28 at 21:57

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