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Who established that using FOR and SINCE in the same sentence is wrong? Is there any opinion of a grammarian on this matter or is it common sense, so to speak?

I composed music for 10 years since I bought my first guitar.

I understand that the sentence is not correct. Here is one of the explanations I have had so far as to why it’s wrong:

Ago is a starting point, before now. For is the duration. Since is both the starting and end points, shown by the tense. So you cannot use 'since' with 'for'

But how can SINCE be the end point if we remove FOR

"I composed music since I bought my first guitar"

It's not clear when I stopped composing music. And it can't be substituted for "I have composed music since..." because I am not composing music any longer.

My first question: what is the reason, the logic behind the idea of the ban of using "FOR" and "SINCE" in the same sentence in the past?

THE WAYS TO AVOID THE PROBLEM.

Do you agree that these are the ways to avoid the problem.

1

I composed music for 10 years, since I bought my first guitar.

I composed music for 10 years - since I bought my first guitar.

2

I composed music for 10 years after I bought my first guitar.

I composed music for 10 years beginning in the year when I bought my first guitar.

I know that a similar question has been asked but it wasn't answered in all details I need.

user1425
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  • Related:Can we use For and Since together in the same sentence? – Mari-Lou A Nov 26 '22 at 06:59
  • There's no such ban. "Since" doesn't indicate an endpoint. Your source sounds bad. Can you cite a reputable source that states it? – gotube Nov 26 '22 at 07:00
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    None of your sentences are correct, but that's because to use "since" you need to use a perfect tense, probably present perfect if the speaker is still composing music. – gotube Nov 26 '22 at 07:01
  • Did you notice that I made it specifically clear in the title of the question that this question is about PAST TENSES? – user1425 Nov 26 '22 at 07:04
  • Follow my examples. 1 I composed music. 2 I composed music for 10 years. 1 and 2 are correct so far. Now I want to indicate the starting point of my composing. 3 I composed music for 10 years since I bought the guitar. - You say 3 is wrong because a perfect tense must be there. OK. 3a I had composed music for 10 years since I bought the guitar. - But 3a is wrong because the PAST PERFECT doesn't make sense here. – user1425 Nov 26 '22 at 07:29
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    I composed music for 10 years after I bought my first guitar implies that the speaker has stopped composing. If they are still doing it, they might say "I've been composing music for ten years - ever since I bought my first guitar" where the second part is an afterthought. – Kate Bunting Nov 26 '22 at 09:33
  • Kate Bunting is a trouble solver unlike some others who are trouble makers. – user1425 Nov 26 '22 at 10:06

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