て以来 details
write + (and…) + ever since — the state that started then has held unbroken up to now
kaite irai
ever since — the state that started then has held unbroken up to now
meaning: ever since writing
この町に引っ越していらい、毎朝歩いて通っている。
kono machi ni hikkoshite irai, maiasa aruite kayotte iru.
I have walked to work every morning ever since moving to this town. neutral
あの日けんかして以来、あいつとは口をきいてない。
ano hi kenka shite irai, aitsu to wa kuchi o kiitenai.
I haven't spoken to him since the day we had that fight. casual
- て-form
- noun
- literary
Examples
ever since — since that event, the situation has held right up to now
この町に引っ越していらい、毎朝歩いて通っている。
kono machi ni hikkoshiteirai, maiasa aruite kayotte iru.
I have walked to work every morning ever since moving to this town. neutral
あの日けんかして以来、あいつとは口をきいてない。
ano hi kenka shite irai, aitsu to wa kuchi o kiitenai.
I haven't spoken to him since the day we had that fight. casual
弊社は創業以来、品質第一を守ってまいりました。
heisha wa sougyou irai, hinshitsu daiichi o mamotte mairimashita.
We have upheld quality first ever since our founding. formal
Formation
{V-te}いらいattaches to て-form{N}いらいattaches to noun
Variant notes
- てこのかた — bookish twin of て以来, almost always with a negative or a "not once" main clause — 就職してこのかた、休んだことがない. Rare in conversation.
Notes
clause must still hold now, so a closed-off past event cannot follow it.
Related patterns
Similar
てから marks a starting point and nothing more, so it takes any span and any following event (さっき起きてからコーヒーを飲んだ); て以来 additionally claims the resulting state has run unbroken to the present, which is why a short span sounds off under it — ?一時間前に来て以来 where 一時間前に来てから is unremarkable.
Both frame a long gap, from opposite ends: ぶりに measures the gap and needs a number (三年ぶりに会った), while て以来 names the event that opened it and forbids a measurement in its own slot — ×三年ぶり以来.