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Since – For – Ago
When talking about something that happened in the past, the correct verb tense isn’t always enough – sometimes you need a temporal expression to specify exactly when it happened. The most common French temporal expressions are depuis and il y a, and they are not interchangeable.
Depuis
The French preposition depuis is equivalent to "for" or "since" plus some reference to time. Whether used with action verbs or state-of-being verbs, the French construction is the same, but the English grammar varies.
Depuis with action verbs
- With a period of time
___ has been or had been happening for that amount of time
- With a point in time / event
___ has/had been happening since that time / event
Par exemple…
| J’étudie depuis quatre heures. | I’ve been studying for four hours. | |
| Elle te cherche depuis 10h30. | She’s been looking for you since 10:30. | |
| J’étudiais depuis quatre heures quand il a téléphoné. | I’d been studying for four hours when he called. |
Note that there is no French equivalent for these English verbal constructions. "Has been happening" must be translated by the French present tense, while "had been happening" = imperfect.
Depuis with state-of-being verbs
- With a period of time
___ has or had happened for that amount of time
- With a point in time / event
___ has/had happened since that time / event
Again, there is no equivalent French verb form: the present or imperfect is required.
Par exemple…
| Je suis anxieux depuis deux semaines. Je suis anxieux depuis son départ. Je suis anxieux depuis qu’il est parti. |
| I’ve been anxious for two weeks. I’ve been anxious since his departure. I’ve been anxious since he left. |
| J’étais anxieux depuis deux semaines. J’étais anxieux depuis son départ. J’étais anxieux depuis qu’il était parti. | I’d been anxious for two weeks. I’d been anxious since his departure. I’d been anxious since he’d left. |
Depuis with negation
| Elle n’a pas parlé depuis son arrivée. | She hasn’t spoken since she arrived. | |
| Elle n’avait pas parlé depuis trois jours. | She hadn’t spoken for three days. | |
| Je ne suis plus fâché depuis son explication. | I haven’t been angry since his explanation. | |
| Je n’étais plus fâché depuis qu’il s’était excusé. | I hadn’t been angry since he’d apologized. |
Depuis in questions
| L’as-tu vu depuis mars ? | Have you seen him since March? | |
| Qu’est-ce qu’il a fait depuis son retour ? | What has he done since his return? |
Synonyms
Pour and pendant can replace depuis only when the verb is in the past tense.
| J’étudiais pour / pendant quatre heures quand il a téléphoné. | I’d been studying for four hours when he called. | |
| J’étais anxieux pour / pendant deux semaines. | I’d been anxious for two weeks. |
When referring to an amount of time, the expressions il y a, ça fait, and voilà can be used in place of depuis but the structure of the French sentence changes completely: il y a + time + que + verb. This is informal.
| Il y a quatre heures que j’étudie. Ça fait quatre heures que j’étudie. Voilà quatre heures que j’étudie. | I’ve been studying for four hours. | |
| Il y a 20 minutes que nous sommes prêts. Ça fait 20 minutes qu’on est prêts. Voilà 20 minutes qu’on est prêts. | We’ve been ready for 20 minutes. |
Il y a
Past tense + il y a + amount of time indicates that something happened that amount of time ago.
Par exemple…
| J’ai fini il y a 15 minutes. | I finished 15 minutes ago. | |
| Il est arrivé il y a une semaine. | He arrived a week ago. | |
| Nous étions prêts il y a une heure. | We were ready an hour ago. | |
| Elle avait la grippe il y a un mois. | She had the flu a month ago. |
Informal equivalents
| J’ai fini voilà 15 minutes. | I finished 15 minutes ago. | |
| Il est arrivé voilà une semaine. | He arrived a week ago. |
Or you can turn the sentence around with il y a … que or voilà … que:
| Il y a 15 minutes que j’ai fini. Voilà 15 minutes que j’ai fini. | I finished 15 minutes ago. | |
| Il y a une semaine qu’il est arrivé. Voilà une semaine qu’il est arrivé. | He arrived a week ago. |
En résumé: Depuis vs Il y a (vs informal equivalents)
Ago
- Past tense + il y a + period of time
Informal: - Past tense + voilà + period of time
- Il y a / Voilà + period of time + que + past tense
For
- Present tense + depuis + period of time
- Past tense + depuis / pendant / pour + period of time
Informal: - Il y a / Ça fait / Voilà + period of time + que + verb
Since
- Present or past tense + depuis + point in time
Related lessons
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