Since vs. Sense — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman — Updated on September 21, 2023
Since refers to a time or causality, while Sense pertains to perception, meaning, or a feeling. They have different grammatical and contextual applications.
Difference Between Since and Sense
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Since and Sense are two English words that, despite their phonetic similarity, have entirely different meanings and usages. Since primarily functions as a preposition, conjunction, or adverb, indicating a point in time or a reason for something. For example, "I've known her since 2010," or "She cried since she was hurt." It denotes a starting point or a cause.
On the other hand, Sense can be both a noun and a verb, relating to perception, understanding, or a particular feeling. It can refer to any of the human senses like sight, smell, or touch, or it can mean a specific understanding or awareness. Phrases like "I sense danger" or "He has a keen sense of humor" illustrate its varied applications.
Another significant difference lies in their grammatical applications. Since can link clauses and introduce reasons, while Sense is more likely to be the main subject or object in a sentence. For instance, in "She left since she was tired," Since connects the reason she left. In "I have a strong sense of smell," Sense is the main subject discussed.
Moreover, while Since has temporal or causal connotations, Sense revolves around cognition, feelings, or physical perceptions. They're not interchangeable and have unique places in the English language. Being aware of their distinct roles ensures clearer and more effective communication.
Comparison Chart
Part of Speech
Preposition, conjunction, adverb.
Noun, verb.
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Primary Meaning
Refers to time or reason.
Pertains to perception or feeling.
Usage Example
"I've known him since childhood."
"He has a good sense of taste."
Functional Role
Links clauses, introduces reasons.
Often the main subject or object.
Contextual Connotation
Temporal or causal.
Cognitive or perceptual.
Compare with Definitions
Since
Referring to the time when something began.
I haven’t seen him since Tuesday.
Sense
Meaning or interpretation.
What’s the sense of this statement?
Since
Continuously from a past point of time.
He's worked there since graduating from college.
Sense
A sane or rational thinking.
He had the good sense to ask for directions.
Since
Considering the fact that.
Since you’re here, help me with this task.
Sense
A sense is a biological system used by an organism for sensation, the process of gathering information about the world and responding to stimuli. (For example, in the human body, the brain receives signals from the senses, which continuously receive information from the environment, interprets these signals, and causes the body to respond, either chemically or physically.) Although traditionally around five human senses were known (namely sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing), it is now recognized that there are many more.
Since
After a particular time in the past.
It's been years since we last met.
Sense
A faculty by which the body perceives an external stimulus; one of the faculties of sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch
The bear has a keen sense of smell which enables it to hunt at dusk
Since
From then until now or between then and now
They left town and haven't been here since.
Sense
A feeling that something is the case
She had the sense of being a political outsider
You can improve your general health and sense of well-being
Since
Before now; ago
A name long since forgotten.
Sense
A sane and realistic attitude to situations and problems
He earned respect by the good sense he showed at meetings
Since
After some point in the past; at a subsequent time
My friend has since married and moved to California.
Sense
A way in which an expression or a situation can be interpreted; a meaning
It is not clear which sense of the word ‘characters’ is intended in this passage
Since
Continuously from
They have been friends since childhood.
Sense
A property (e.g. direction of motion) distinguishing a pair of objects, quantities, effects, etc. which differ only in that each is the reverse of the other
The cord does not become straight, but forms a length of helix in the opposite sense
Since
Intermittently from
She's been skiing since childhood.
Sense
Perceive by a sense or senses
With the first frost, they could sense a change in the days
Since
During the period subsequent to the time when
He hasn't been home since he graduated.
Sense
(of a machine or similar device) detect
An optical fibre senses a current flowing in a conductor
Since
Continuously from the time when
They have been friends ever since they were in grade school.
Sense
Any of the faculties by which stimuli from outside or inside the body are received and felt, as the faculties of hearing, sight, smell, touch, taste, and equilibrium.
Since
Inasmuch as; because
Since you're not interested, I won't tell you about it.
Sense
A perception or feeling produced by a stimulus; sensation
A sense of fatigue and hunger.
Since
From a specified time in the past.
I met him last year, but haven't seen him since.
A short/long time since
Sense
Senses The faculties of sensation as means of providing physical gratification and pleasure.
Since
From: referring to a period of time ending in the present and defining it by the point in time at which it started, or the period in which its starting point occurred.
Sense
An intuitive or acquired perception or ability to estimate
A sense of diplomatic timing.
Since
Continuously during that period of time.
I have known her since last year.
Sense
A capacity to appreciate or understand
A keen sense of humor.
Since
At certain points during that period of time.
Sense
A vague feeling or presentiment
A sense of impending doom.
Since
From the time that.
I have loved you since I first met you.
Sense
Recognition or perception either through the senses or through the intellect; consciousness
Has no sense of shame.
Since
Because.
Since you didn't call, we left without you.
Sense
Natural understanding or intelligence, especially in practical matters
The boy had sense and knew just what to do when he got lost.
Since
(obsolete) When or that.
Sense
Often senses The normal ability to think or reason soundly
Have you taken leave of your senses?.
Since
From a definite past time until now; as, he went a month ago, and I have not seen him since.
We since become the slaves to one man's lust.
Sense
Something sound or reasonable
There's no sense in waiting three hours.
Since
In the time past, counting backward from the present; before this or now; ago.
How many ages since has Virgil writ?
About two years since, it so fell out, that he was brought to a great lady's house.
Sense
A meaning that is conveyed, as in speech or writing; signification
The sense of the criticism is that the proposal has certain risks.
Since
When or that.
Do you remember since we lay all night in the windmill in St. George's field?
Sense
One of the meanings of a word or phrase
The word set has many senses.
Since
From the time of; in or during the time subsequent to; subsequently to; after; - usually with a past event or time for the object.
The Lord hath blessed thee, since my coming.
I have a model by which he build a nobler poem than any extant since the ancients.
Sense
Judgment; consensus
Sounding out the sense of the electorate on capital punishment.
Since
Seeing that; because; considering; - formerly followed by that.
Since that my penitence comes after all,Imploring pardon.
Since truth and constancy are vain,Since neither love, nor sense of pain,Nor force of reason, can persuade,Then let example be obeyed.
Sense
Intellectual interpretation, as of the significance of an event or the conclusions reached by a group
I came away from the meeting with the sense that we had resolved all outstanding issues.
Since
Used to indicate the reason for something.
She's been moody since she lost her job.
Sense
To become aware of; perceive
Organisms able to sense their surroundings.
Sense
To grasp; understand
Sensed that the financial situation would improve.
Sense
To detect automatically
Sense radioactivity.
Sense
(Genetics) Of or relating to the portion of the strand of double-stranded DNA that serves as a template for and is transcribed into RNA.
Sense
Any of the manners by which living beings perceive the physical world: for humans sight, smell, hearing, touch, taste.
Sense
Perception through the intellect; apprehension; awareness.
A sense of security
Sense
Sound practical or moral judgment.
It's common sense not to put metal objects in a microwave oven.
Sense
The meaning, reason, or value of something.
You don’t make any sense.
Sense
Any particular meaning of a word, among its various meanings.
Word sense disambiguation
The true sense of words or phrases
Sense
A natural appreciation or ability.
A keen musical sense
Sense
(pragmatics) The way that a referent is presented.
Sense
(semantics) A single conventional use of a word; one of the entries for a word in a dictionary.
The word set has various senses.
Sense
(mathematics) One of two opposite directions in which a vector (especially of motion) may point. See also polarity.
Sense
(mathematics) One of two opposite directions of rotation, clockwise versus anti-clockwise.
Sense
(biochemistry) referring to the strand of a nucleic acid that directly specifies the product.
Sense
To use biological senses: to either see, hear, smell, taste, or feel.
Sense
To instinctively be aware.
She immediately sensed her disdain.
Sense
To comprehend.
Sense
A faculty, possessed by animals, of perceiving external objects by means of impressions made upon certain organs (sensory or sense organs) of the body, or of perceiving changes in the condition of the body; as, the senses of sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch. See Muscular sense, under Muscular, and Temperature sense, under Temperature.
Let fancy still my sense in Lethe steep.
What surmounts the reachOf human sense I shall delineate.
The traitor Sense recallsThe soaring soul from rest.
Sense
Perception by the sensory organs of the body; sensation; sensibility; feeling.
In a living creature, though never so great, the sense and the affects of any one part of the body instantly make a transcursion through the whole.
Sense
Perception through the intellect; apprehension; recognition; understanding; discernment; appreciation.
This Basilius, having the quick sense of a lover.
High disdain from sense of injured merit.
Sense
Sound perception and reasoning; correct judgment; good mental capacity; understanding; also, that which is sound, true, or reasonable; rational meaning.
He raves; his words are looseAs heaps of sand, and scattering wide from sense.
Sense
That which is felt or is held as a sentiment, view, or opinion; judgment; notion; opinion.
I speak my private but impartial senseWith freedom.
The municipal council of the city had ceased to speak the sense of the citizens.
Sense
Meaning; import; signification; as, the true sense of words or phrases; the sense of a remark.
So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense.
I think 't was in another sense.
Sense
Moral perception or appreciation.
Some are so hardened in wickedness as to have no sense of the most friendly offices.
Sense
One of two opposite directions in which a line, surface, or volume, may be supposed to be described by the motion of a point, line, or surface.
Sense
To perceive by the senses; to recognize.
Is he sure that objects are not otherwise sensed by others than they are by him?
Sense
A general conscious awareness;
A sense of security
A sense of happiness
A sense of danger
A sense of self
Sense
The meaning of a word or expression; the way in which a word or expression or situation can be interpreted;
The dictionary gave several senses for the word
In the best sense charity is really a duty
The signifier is linked to the signified
Sense
The faculty through which the external world is apprehended;
In the dark he had to depend on touch and on his senses of smell and hearing
Sense
Sound practical judgment;
I can't see the sense in doing it now
He hasn't got the sense God gave little green apples
Fortunately she had the good sense to run away
Sense
A natural appreciation or ability;
A keen musical sense
A good sense of timing
Sense
Perceive by a physical sensation, e.g., coming from the skin or muscles;
He felt the wind
She felt an object brushing her arm
He felt his flesh crawl
She felt the heat when she got out of the car
Sense
Detect some circumstance or entity automatically;
This robot can sense the presence of people in the room
Particle detectors sense ionization
Sense
Become aware of not through the senses but instinctively;
I sense his hostility
Sense
Comprehend;
I sensed the real meaning of his letter
Sense
Any of the faculties by which humans perceive stimuli.
Her sense of hearing is remarkable.
Sense
A feeling or intuition.
I have a sense that something is wrong.
Sense
Understanding or awareness.
She has a keen sense of justice.
Common Curiosities
How many human senses are there?
Traditionally, five: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.
What does "sense of accomplishment" mean?
It means a feeling of satisfaction from achieving something.
Can Since and Sense be used interchangeably?
No, they have different meanings and usages.
Can Since be used at the beginning of a sentence?
Yes, like "Since it was raining, they stayed indoors."
How do I use Since in terms of causality?
Example: "He went home since he was tired."
What does "sense of self" mean?
It refers to one's perception or awareness of their identity.
Is Since used with past or present perfect tense?
Typically, with present perfect like "I have known her since 2010."
How is Since used as an adverb?
Example: "She left, and I haven’t seen her since."
Can Sense be used as a verb?
Yes, like "I can sense your hesitation."
Does Since always need a past reference?
Typically, it refers to a point in the past leading up to the present or another stated time.
Is Since always related to time?
Mostly, but it can also indicate causality or reason.
Does Sense always relate to physical perception?
No, it can also relate to mental understanding or intuition.
Is "common sense" an actual sense?
No, it refers to practical judgment or wisdom.
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Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
