Fill in the blanks in the following sentence :
"It has been two years _____ I last saw her."

Question

Accepted Answer

The sentence in question is: "It has been two years _____ I last saw her." The task is to fill in the blank with the correct option, which is Option 1: "since."

1. **Explanation for Option 1 (since):**
   - The word "since" is used to indicate the starting point of a period of time up to the present. In this sentence, "since" is appropriate because it marks the beginning of the time period (two years ago) from when the speaker last saw her. The structure "It has been [time period] since [event]" is a common way to express the duration of time that has passed from a specific event to the present moment. Therefore, "since" correctly completes the sentence by indicating that two years have passed from the last time the speaker saw her.

2. **Explanation for why the other options are incorrect:**

- **Option 2 (for):**
     - "For" is used to indicate the duration of time something has been happening, but it does not specify a starting point. It would be used in a sentence like "I have known her for two years," which focuses on the duration rather than the starting point. In the given sentence, we need to specify when the two-year period started, which "for" does not do.

- **Option 3 (before):**
     - "Before" is used to indicate a time preceding a specific point or event. It would not fit in the sentence structure "It has been two years _____ I last saw her" because it does not logically connect the duration with the event of last seeing her. "Before" would imply a different context, such as "I saw her before the meeting," which is not the intended meaning here.

- **Option 4 (when):**
     - "When" is used to refer to a specific time or occasion. It does not fit the sentence structure because it does not establish a duration from a past event to the present. "When" would be used in a context like "I remember when I last saw her," which is not the intended meaning of expressing the passage of time.

In conclusion, Option 1 "since" is the correct choice because it accurately conveys the passage of time from the last occasion the speaker saw her to the present, aligning with the intended meaning of the sentence.