以 来 (yi lai) and 自 从 (zi cong)

[wilhal_18]

Hi guys, I just joined this forum today. currently, i am learning chinese and have been very passionate about it. During my journey of learning chinese, i often encountered some problems with the grammar. I truly appreciate everybody's help here.

Today i have question about 以 来 (yi lai) and 自 从 (zi cong).

From what i understand, they both mean "SINCE" in english. is there any difference between them?

also can i say "zi cong san nian yi lai (since 3 years) ??

what about "cong (从) san nian yi lai" ???

and can YI LAI mean "in the past"??? like san nian yi lai = in the past 3 years??

i am so confused here, Please help me, thanks so much everyone!!

[anthonchai]

Hope I can help...

以来 and 自从 are different.

以来 specifies a period of time which has not finished.

It is different from what you have suggested (in the past), as the action you talk about has not yet finished at this moment. eg. I have been studying very hard for these three years.3年以来我也很努力读书.

while 自从 specifies a particular point of time, 自从3年前, in English it is "Since 3 years ago"

since these two vocabulary items have different uses and meanings, you can't put them together in one sentence. :rolleyes:

[nc911a1]

since these two vocabulary items have different uses and meanings, you can't put them together in one sentence.

really? I alway put then together. eg "自从他结婚以来他就再也没出去玩过。 since he got married, he has never go out for fun." I am Chinese, I used it, I felt it is ok.

but I think 自从 like “（” and "以来"like")"

[Tiana]

One differrence seems to have emergerd in all examples so far:

自从 precedes (whatever it is that it modifies) and

以来 follows (whatever it is that it modifies).

[chaiknees]

According to NPCR, 以来 is placed after time expressions and indicates the span of time starting from a certain point in the past until the time of the conversation. Words like 自, 从 and 自从 are often used in front of 以来. One example: (自/从/自从)结婚以来，他们还没有一起出国旅游过。

[xiangruyimo]

I don't think anthonchai is right (sorry!), because my impression has always been more in line with nc991a1. If the latter (以来 etc) is omitted, the sentence doesn't sound complete. I've had teachers tell me several times that it's best not to use 自/从/自从 by themselves, as in, always follow up one of those words with 以来/以后 or a similar thing once your time expression is done.

It's not completely right-out wrong if you don't, but you risk leaving your Chinese listener waiting for the end of the pattern and ending up confused.

Whereas, you can use 以來 by itself as long as your time word is specific enough. As in, 星期一下午/我的小狗不见了以来，我一直在睡觉。(I've been sleeping since Monday afternoon/since my puppy went missing.)

I think it‘s easier to contrast 以来 with 以后, not 自从. 以来 puts more emphasis on the span of time since passed, while 以后 puts more emphasis on the moment in time specified. So, nc911a1's example emphasizes the duration of time during which he hasn't gone out.

If he had used 以后 instead, and tweaked the sentence a bit, it would instead emphasize the point in time (marriage) as the specific moment where something changed (he got really boring).

Subtle difference.