How Long

We use for to say how long:

We have been waiting for twenty minutes.
They lived in Manchester for fifteen years.

We can also use a noun phrase without for:

Let’s go. We’ve been waiting nearly an hour.
I’ve worked here twenty years.

We use since with the present perfect or the past perfect to say when something started:

I have worked here since December.
They had been watching since seven o’clock in the morning.

We use from … to • until to say when something starts and finishes:

They stayed with us from Monday to Friday.
We will be on holiday from the sixteenth until the twentieth.

We can use to or until with a noun phrase:

My great-grandmother lived in Liverpool from 1940 to her death.

My great-grandmother lived in Liverpool from 1940 until her death.

But we can only use until with a clause:

My great-grandmother lived in Liverpool from 1940 to she died.✖

My great-grandmother lived in Liverpool from 1940 until she died.✔