The English Oracle

"Since", "until", "from", "to" on invoices or date ranges of a form

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Chapters
00:00 &Quot;Since&Quot;, &Quot;Until&Quot;, &Quot;From&Quot;, &Quot;To&Quot; On Invoices Or Date Ranges Of
00:59 Answer 1 Score 12
01:55 Accepted Answer Score 11
02:06 Answer 3 Score 7
02:33 Answer 4 Score 3
03:28 Answer 5 Score 2
04:27 Thank you

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Tags
#prepositions #time #dates #rangeinclusion

#avk47



ANSWER 1

Score 12


Look at the definitions of "since" and "until":

Since - from a definite past time until now

Until - before

Since the definition of "since" implicitly includes a sub-clause of "until", it doesn't make sense to combine it with a separate "until". So what you have is:

Dolls sold since January 2012 -- Valid

Dolls sold from January 2012 to February 2012 -- Valid

Dolls sold since January 2012 until February 2012 -- Incorrect

The combination of "from" and "until" is also valid in some circumstances, like:

He stayed from dusk until dawn.

But for some reason using it in a date range does not sound right to my ears. It may be idiomatic rather than any grammatical reason. I'm not really sure though. Perhaps someone else can comment.




ANSWER 2

Score 7


It has to be from...to.

Used as a preposition, "since" indicates that an action/event that started some time in the past is continuing until now. Given that you have to indicate, on your invoice, that a certain thing started on a certain date and ended on a certain date (and therefore is no longer continuing), using "since" would be incorrect.




ANSWER 3

Score 3


When we're talking about a span of time, "from" and "to" are a linked pair. "From" designates the beginning of the time span, and "to" designates the end. ("Until" can also be used here, in place of "to.")

"Since" also refers to a span of time, beginning at some point in the past and ending at the present moment; it basically means "from then to now." "Since" is therefore a complete concept, and does not require "until" to finish the thought. If you add "until now," it becomes redundant, because "since" includes "until now." In other words, if you say "since then until now," you are saying "from then to now until now," and if you say "since then until any time other than NOW," you are contradicting yourself, because then you are saying "from then to now until some time other than now." Therefore, "since" and "until" never go together.




ANSWER 4

Score 2


Neither are appropriate on an invoice.

An invoice is for a fixed period of time and will reference a start date and an end date for when a particular service was rendered or provided.

That being said, an invoice will typically read:

For the service period beginning January 1, 2013 through February 1, 2013

or potentially using an uncommon, but valid spelling of through

For the service period beginning January 1, 2013 thru February 1, 2013

Note that this spelling of thru is rarely acceptable, but is actually fairly common on invoices.

Of course, you can also use the word "to" as in your example.

For services rendered from January 1, 2013 to February 1, 2013

Until may be used if the service will be terminated on a specific date and the date is in the future.

 This invoice is for service that will be provided until January 1, 2014

Since is inappropriate because it does not infer that the invoiced time period will ever be completed.

 This invoice is for service since January 1, 2012

If I get that on an invoice, I might not pay it because it tells me there are no ongoing costs as long as the invoice remains open.