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Usage of "Since Before" ?

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May 14th 2012 04:06 English Grammar
I'd like to know natural expressions used in the following situation.

Time
past <----- A ========== B ========== C -----> future

Time A: "You" came.
Time B: "I" came. You probably recognized me, but I didn't recognize you.
Time C: We saw each other and are talking now.

At the time point C, could I say, "Have you been here since before I came?"
And, is it possible to say it without a perfect tense, like "Are you here since before I came?"

I encountered such a situation some days ago and couldn't make a correct sentence then.
After that, I found the phrase "since before", so I want to know if it works.
Ken
May 14th 2012 13:04
Hi,Gradius-san. I'm also having difficulty having my entries corrected by English people. I've heard that this SNS was launched by some Japanese people and the number of English people are relatively smaller than that of us Japanese, so that's the main reason we have the difficulty.

Anyway, as to your entry, I checked a bit using Google but neither of the 2 expressions couldn't be found in the complete sentences.

My guess is that both expressions are available on conversation basis.

I learned that "he is taller than me" is wrong in the point of "me" because this part is an abbreviation of "than I am tall" but as you know this expression is commonly used.

Almost everything would be OK in informal way of conversation.
May 14th 2012 14:08 Gradius
Thank you for you comment.

I posted this entry on this site, because I had asked a similar question in Japanese on someone's entry teaching English expressions, but the answer hadn't satisfied me. The person seemed not to understand Japanese "relative tenses", so I decided to explain it with figure.

> neither of the 2 expressions couldn't be found in the complete sentences.

That is a point, so I want to know how people say in such situations...
May 14th 2012 15:02 Gradius
If my pronunciation were perfect, even unnatural expressons would work, but reality is different. That's why I want to follow how they usually say.
May 14th 2012 15:21 Ken
Some expressions using double prepositions are not unusual, like "in between classes" or "he waved his hand from inside the car". In this sense, double usage of conjunctions might work. Anyway you can wait response from natives.
Lilium
Jun 06th 2012 05:00
Since before' means from a given time before another time, until the present.

Ex.
"I've known Joe since before we were in grade school." - This means that even before we started grade school together, Joe and I were already acquainted

I took it from English-test.net hope it helps
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I'd like to know natural expressions used in the following situation. Time past <----- A ========== B ========== C -----> future Time A: "You" came. Time B: "I" came. You probably recognized me, but I didn't recognize you. Time C: We saw each other and are talking now. At the time point


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