<p>"Since" can mean "既然" (as) or "自从" (from the time) </p>

<p>"Since we are friends" is not translated as "自从我们是朋友". It is translated as "既然我们是朋友" (as we are friends).</p>

<p>"Since the time we were friends" is translated as "自从我们是朋友那時候起"</p>

<p>Your teacher is correct, "自从我们(是)朋友" is problematic because the verb "是" (is) doesn't has the meaning of "become"</p>

<p>"Since we'd became friends" should be translated as "自从我们<strong>交上了</strong>朋友" or "自从我们<strong>成为了</strong>朋友" (Since the time we'd <strong>became</strong> friends)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-19T17:30:24.447Z
2019-08-20T02:27:39.873Z
2019-08-20T02:27:39.873Z
Tang Ho
<p>Ever since implies the friendship has lasted a while. 交上了朋友 somehow indicates now or recent past to me. So I prefer 成为朋友。</p>

<p>自从我们成为朋友，我就一直想告诉你：你有口臭！<br>
Ever since we became friends, I've been wanting to tell you: you have smelly breath!</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-19T23:11:42.493Z
2019-08-19T23:11:42.493Z
Pedroski
<p>I wanted to write in chinese. Since we were friends.... or ever since we made friends.... </p>

<p>In my essay. I wrote 自从我们是朋友。And the teacher correct it, you cannot use the verb 是. She wrote 自从我们交上了朋友，。。  but i cannot find many sentences with 交上 in the internet. What i found was 自从我们成为了朋友，。。。</p>

<p>Are both right? have the same meaning?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-19T13:34:35.850Z
自从我们是朋友 is very common in speaking, but it is mainly used for love relation, 自从我们交上了朋友 is a good old formal way to say that, but not popular those days. 自从我们成为了朋友 is the most used word in speaking and writing.
sfy
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-20T05:56:17.607Z
@Jacob Try to avoid leaving answers in the comments, otherwise you might find them deleted once they are deemed no longer needed.
Mou某
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-28T05:54:42.000Z
@Jacob Really? I speak in Cantonese and I don't see that euphemism in daily speaking. The equivalent of 是 in Cantonese is absolutely fine in speaking. And I would write 是 in an essay. Though I'm not exactly brilliant at writing in any language though.
Daniel Cheung
<grammar>
make/become friends. 成为朋友，交朋友。 Since we were friends
# make/become friends. 成为朋友，交朋友。 Since we were friends

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-08-19)

I wanted to write in chinese. Since we were friends.... or ever since we made friends....

In my essay. I wrote 自从我们是朋友。And the teacher correct it, you cannot use the verb 是. She wrote 自从我们交上了朋友，。。 but i cannot find many sentences with 交上 in the internet. What i found was 自从我们成为了朋友，。。。

Are both right? have the same meaning?

**Tags:** grammar

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 自从我们是朋友 is very common in speaking, but it is mainly used for love relation, 自从我们交上了朋友 is a good old formal way to say that, but not popular those days. 自从我们成为了朋友 is the most used word in speaking and writing.  
> **username_2**: @Jacob Try to avoid leaving answers in the comments, otherwise you might find them deleted once they are deemed no longer needed.  
> **username_3**: @Jacob Really? I speak in Cantonese and I don't see that euphemism in daily speaking. The equivalent of 是 in Cantonese is absolutely fine in speaking. And I would write 是 in an essay. Though I'm not exactly brilliant at writing in any language though.  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2019-08-19. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

"Since" can mean "既然" (as) or "自从" (from the time)

"Since we are friends" is not translated as "自从我们是朋友". It is translated as "既然我们是朋友" (as we are friends).

"Since the time we were friends" is translated as "自从我们是朋友那時候起"

Your teacher is correct, "自从我们(是)朋友" is problematic because the verb "是" (is) doesn't has the meaning of "become"

"Since we'd became friends" should be translated as "自从我们**交上了**朋友" or "自从我们**成为了**朋友" (Since the time we'd **became** friends)


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### Answer by username_5 on 2019-08-19. Score: 2

Ever since implies the friendship has lasted a while. 交上了朋友 somehow indicates now or recent past to me. So I prefer 成为朋友。

自从我们成为朋友，我就一直想告诉你：你有口臭！  
Ever since we became friends, I've been wanting to tell you: you have smelly breath!


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