Is "since 50 years ago" acceptable?

[Linh Bui Hoang]

had a task to rewrite the sentence "The last political scandal of this kind took place 50 years ago" using "since".
My teacher suggested 3 ways of answering:
1. There has been no political scandal of this kind since the 1950s.
2. A political scandal of this kind hasn't taken place since 50 years ago.
3. It has been 50 years since the last political of this kind took place.
However, I feel that the two first answers are incorrect.
As for the first answer, we don't know the time of the speaking so we can't say that 50 years ago is the 1950s.
Regarding the second, actually I had never seen this form "since... ago" before.
Would you kindly let me know if they are right or wrong?
Thanks much in advance

[Yankee]

Basically, when you use 'since', you refer to a point in the past and then measure the time from then to now. I'd say your teacher expected you to assume that the sentence "The last political scandal of this kind took place 50 years ago" was a recently made statement of fact (taken from a recent newspaper, for example). So, let's just assume that the original sentence was a recently made statement, that your teacher was mainly focused on grammar, and that your teacher was not expecting you to interpret the sentence as something that was written or said 20 years ago, for example.

I agree that all three sentences are possible and grammatically correct.
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[Alan]

Hi Linh Bui Hoang,

To be honest I would assume that your teacher wanted you to use 'since' in its usual function as a description of starting from 'then' and coming up to 'now'. In that sense sentence 3 seems to fit the bill. Sentence 1 is grammatically kosher but doesn't really give a real time scale if you are going to be pernickety and insist on 50 years back from the time you say/write it. As for sentence 2, I can't get my head round it since the concept of 'since' and 'backwards from now' seem to clash. I can say: That happened 3 months ago but That happened since three months ago???? Not really!

Alan
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[Linh Bui Hoang]

Thank you all very much indeed.
It seems that sentences 1 and 2 are not certainly correct. So for sure, I'll take sentence 3 as my only answer.

[nessie]

Hi,
Do you think there is a slight matter with sentence 3?
I'm not very sure but here I am taught this syntax: 'It's 50 years since...'
So how different are the two versions? Which is 'more correct'?

Many thanks,
Nessie.

[Atomos]

Hi, nessie

[nessie]

Hi Atomos,
I myself also think they are both correct, but there's a trouble that here we are taught different versions of English, so I'm confused sometimes. Anyway, let's wait for some native speakers' ideas

[Ralf]

Hi Atomos,

Here are four examples to illustrate correct usage.

'The Chinese have been in Tibet for 50 years'
'The Chinese have been in Tibet since 1958'
'It is 50 years since the Chinese occupied Tibet'
'It has been 50 years since the Chinese occupied Tibet'

Although the last example may not be entirely grammatical, you hear/say people say/write it.
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[Atomos]

[Emily_nguyen]

Hi you guys!
How're you doing?
Well, in those sentences that Hoang gave i think sentence 2 is not right, i've never seen " since ... ago". I think in that case number 3 is the best^^! Those things is confusing sometime.
bye the way, thanks Ralf for yours example.
Sincerely,
_Emily nguyen_

[Yankee]

Hi Emily

It is possible to use all three of the sentences that Hoang originally posted. 1 and 3 would be commonly used constructions.

Though less often used, 2 is also possible. You have to be careful when using the type of wording in sentence 2, however. It is probably most often used with the present perfect continuous, but can also be used with the present perfect simple (e.g. with verbs that indicate a state or suggest a continuing activity).

Here are some more examples of 2:

- It has been raining since 2 hours ago.
- He has been working (has worked) at XYZ Inc since 2 months ago.
- She has been sick since 3 days ago.

It can also be used with the present perfect simple to say that at some time between a specific point in the past (e.g. three months ago) and now, something has happened. For example:

- That has happened since three months ago.
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_________________
Amy
.
ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English

[MrPedantic]

There's an interesting thread on the subject here.

("Since X years ago" seems to be less common in BrE.)

MrP

[Yankee]

Hi MrP

Yes, this may well be another one of those little AmE/BE differences.

The link you posted was interesting.
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_________________
Amy
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ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English

[sitifan]

http://www.englishforums.com/English/SinceAgo/cgzpk/post.htm
http://www.englishclub.com/esl-forums/viewtopic.php?f=199&t=36054&p=266843&hilit=since%2C+ago#p266843

[Emily_nguyen]

Hi Yankee,
Thanks for reminding me, I was wrong >.<
Best wishes..^^!
_Emily_Nguyen_