Sense or since?
sense is a noun meaning “Any of the manners by which living beings perceive the physical world: for…”; since is an adverb meaning “From a specified time in the past”. Use sense as a noun and since as an adverb. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) since is about 3.6 times as common as sense.
What is the difference between sense and since?
| sense | since | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb | adverb, preposition, conjunction |
| Meaning | Any of the manners by which living beings perceive the physical world: for humans sight, smell, hearing, touch, taste Perception through the intellect; apprehension; awareness To use biological senses: to either see, hear, smell, taste, or feel | From a specified time in the past Continuously during that period of time At certain points during that period of time |
| Example | a sense of security | I met him last year, but haven't seen him since |
| Forms | senses | none |
| Pronunciation | /sɛns/ /sɛnts/ /sɪns/ | /sɪn(t)s/ |
| In writing | 155 times per million words | 562 times per million words |
Sources: sense and since in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of sense and since
sense
- 1
Any of the manners by which living beings perceive the physical world: for humans sight, smell, hearing, touch, taste
- 2
To use biological senses: to either see, hear, smell, taste, or feel
- 3
Perception through the intellect; apprehension; awareness
a sense of security
- 4
To instinctively be aware
She immediately sensed her disdain
- 5
Sound practical or moral judgment
It’s common sense not to put metal objects in a microwave oven
- 6
To comprehend
- 7
The meaning, reason, or value of something
You don’t make any sense
- 8
A meaning of a term (word or expression), among its various meanings
the various senses of the word “car” (e.g., motor car, elevator car, railcar)
since
- 1
From a specified time in the past
I met him last year, but haven't seen him since
- 2
Continuously during that period of time
I'd known her only since the previous year, so from/since the moment we got married we’ve quarrelled
- 3
From the time that
I have loved you since I first met you
- 4
At certain points during that period of time
- 5
Because
Since you didn't call, we left without you
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, sense or since?
sense appears 155 times per million words; since 562 times per million words.
sense 155 times per million wordssince 562 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search sense vs since?
“sense vs since” is searched about 2,400 times a month on Google and 150 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“since vs sense”, “sense or since”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.