〜(て)このかた

About

～このかた is used to express that a state has continued "ever since X" up until the present moment.

～このかた is combined with て form verbs the vast majority of the time, making ～てこのかた the commonly accepted pattern.

E.g. 入社にゅうしゃしてこのかた、一度いちども有休ゆうきゅうを使つかったことがない。 "I have not used paid time off once since joining my company."

E.g. 生うまれてこのかた、見みたことがない。 "I've never seen it. (Lit. Ever since I was born, I haven't seen it.)"

このかた may also occasionally attach to ～年ねん.

E.g. 10年ねんこのかた、実家じっかに帰かえっていない。 "I haven't been back to my parents' in 10 years."

The second half of a ～このかた sentence can't feature a one-time action, or a future action. The event before ～このかた should also be something that isn't too close to the present (a few weeks or more, at least).

～てこのかた is stiff/formal in tone, and doesn't see much use in conversational contexts.

Summary

• 

  ～このかた is used to express that a state has continued "ever since X" up until the present moment

• 

  ～このかた is combined with て form verbs the vast majority of the time

• 

  このかた may also occasionally attach to ～年ねん

• 

  ～てこのかた is stiff/formal in tone