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I know we can say A year ago, Three years ago as an adverb.

But can I say like

  1. Until 3 years ago, I lived my whole life doing what I don't want to do.

  2. Ever since a year ago, I've live my life doing what I want to do.

Why I'm asking this is because I'm not comfortable saying until/since + adverb.

So. do the sentences above sound natural?

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  • Three years ago, I lived my life doing what I don't want to do. UntlE I met her three years ago, I lived......
    – Khan
    Commented Jan 25, 2016 at 8:13
  • Related: Is “last two years ago, I was in a classical concert” correct? The answers are very helpful.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Sep 22, 2016 at 8:44
  • 1st sentence: "don't" is awkward (inconsistent tense). "didn't" would be better. 2nd sentence: "ever" is used when there is not a reference to a specific time period ("ever since X happened". "Since a year ago" would be correct, or "For the last year" would be better.
    – fixer1234
    Commented Feb 22, 2017 at 22:39

1 Answer 1

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Your first sentence sounds like natural English. Using "Ever since a year ago" in your second sentence does not sound natural. I would suggest the following for your second sentence:

For a year now, I've lived my life doing what I want to do.

(The bolded words signify what I changed from your original sentence.)

Now, my answer above assumes you are not writing the two sentences one after another. If you are, I would recommend something like...

For my entire career, I lived my life doing what I don't want to do. A year ago, I made a change. Now, I live my life doing what I want to do.

Hope this helps!

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  • I see nothing wrong with using Ever since a year ago. You can say things like Ever since I lost my tooth and it's no different.
    – dockeryZ
    Commented Jul 24, 2016 at 4:35
  • @dockeryZ, "ever" would be used to refer to an event without a specific date: "ever since I lost my tooth". If the reference contains a date, you wouldn't use "ever": "since a year ago".
    – fixer1234
    Commented Feb 22, 2017 at 22:31
  • "Since" can be paired with either a noun phrase representing an event ("Since Christmas") or with a verb phrase ("Since I lost my tooth"), but it would be odder with a phrase containing "ago". That said, I could see it in exchanges like: "You're a vegetarian? Since when?" — "Since a year ago!"
    – Luke Sawczak
    Commented Jun 8, 2017 at 1:39

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