seither

Definition & meaning

Seither is a German adverb meaning “since then,” “ever since,” or “from that time onward.” It refers to a period that began at a previously mentioned point in the past and continued up to another past or present moment.

• Er ist im Mai umgezogen und seither sehr zufrieden.
  “He moved in May and has been very happy ever since.”

• Seither hat sie nichts mehr von ihm gehört.
  “Since then, she has not heard anything from him.”

It usually refers back to an event or time already mentioned. It is especially common in written German and can sound slightly more formal than seitdem.

Grammar & Word origin

Seither is an adverb and is normally written as one word. It can appear at the beginning of a sentence or in the middle:

• Seither arbeitet er in Berlin.
• Er arbeitet seither in Berlin.

The word is composed of seit “since” and her, which historically indicates movement or orientation from a point in time toward the present.

Unlike seit, seither generally does not introduce a subordinate clause. Compare:

• Seit er in Berlin lebt, ist er zufriedener.
  “Since he has lived in Berlin, he has been happier.”

• Er lebt seit 2020 in Berlin und ist seither zufriedener.
  “He has lived in Berlin since 2020 and has been happier ever since.”

Synonyms & antonyms

Synonyms

• seitdem ↗ — the most direct synonym; it can function as an adverb or introduce a subordinate clause.
  Seither ist alles anders. = Seitdem ist alles anders.

• seit dieser Zeit ↗ — “since that time”; more explicit and somewhat less compact.

• von da an ↗ — “from then on”; emphasizes the starting point and often focuses on what happened afterward.

There is no exact antonym. Depending on the context, temporal opposites include:

• zuvor ↗ — “before that”
• davor ↗ — “before then” or “prior to that”

These refer to the period before a particular point, whereas seither refers to the period after it.

Common phrases & collocations

• seither nicht mehr ↗ — “not since then”
• seither unverändert ↗ — “unchanged ever since”
• seither regelmäßig ↗ — “regularly since then”
• und seither ↗ — “and ever since”
• bis seither ↗ — uncommon; normally replaced by a more specific expression such as bis dahin ↗ “until then”