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Prépositions de temps
Prepositions of time, also known as temporal prepositions, indicate when something happens or for how long something happens. They can be a bit confusing to French students because several have similar but not interchangeable meanings, so it’s important to take the time to understand what each one really means.
Par exemple…
| Je me couche à 22h30. | I go to bed at 10:30pm. | |
| Il va partir dans une heure. | He’s going to leave in an hour. | |
| Nous habitons en France depuis un an. | We’ve been living in France for a year. |
French prepositions of time
Some of these have additional meanings / uses outside of time, so click for more detailed lessons.
À = at + time
À tells you when something happens, at what time.
Par exemple…
| Tu peux revenir à midi ? | Can you come back at noon? | |
| Elle arrive toujours à 15h30. | She always arrives at 3:30pm. | |
| Je vais le finir à 8h. | I’m going to finish it at 8am. |
Dans = in + amount of time (before)
Dans expresses the amount of time that will elapse before something happens.
Par exemple…
| Tu peux revenir dans deux heures ? | Can you come back in two hours? | |
| Elle va arriver dans 15 minutes. | She’s going to arrive in 15 minutes. | |
| Je vais le faire dans une heure et demie. | I’m going to do [start] it in an hour and a half. |
En = in + amount of time (duration)
En expresses how much time something takes.
Par exemple…
| Tu dois écrire un essai en deux heures. | You have to write an essay in two hours. (you have two hours before it’s due) |
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| Je l’ai fini en 15 minutes. | I finished it in 15 minutes. (it took me 15 minutes to do) |
En also tells you when something happens: in which month, season, or year.
Par exemple…
| Elle va arriver en mai. | She will arrive in May. | |
| Je veux me marier en été. | I want to get married in the summer. | |
| On s’est parlé en 2023. | We talked to each other in 2023. |
Depuis = for + amount of time (ongoing)
Depuis expresses how long something has been going on.
Par exemple…
| Je conduis depuis 9 heures. | I’ve been driving for 9 hours. | |
| Ils se connaissent depuis 20 ans. | They’ve known each other for 20 years. |
Depuis can also be used in the past, to indicate how long something had been going on at some point in the past.
Par exemple…
| Je conduisais depuis 9 heures quand je me suis endormi. | I’d been driving for 9 hours when I fell asleep. | |
| Ils se connaissaient depuis 20 ans quand …. | They’d known each other for 20 years when …. |
Durant, Pendant = for + amount of time (total)
Both durant and pendant express how long something lasts or lasted.
Par exemple…
| J’ai conduit durant / pendant 9 heures. | I drove for 9 hours. | |
| Elle voyage durant / pendant 6 mois chaque année. | She travels for 6 months every year. |
Pour = for + amount of time (future)
Pour indicates how long something will last in the future.
Par exemple…
| Je vais conduire pour 9 heures. | I’m going to drive for 9 hours. | |
| Elle voyagera pour 6 mois l’année prochaine. | She will travel for 6 months next year. |
Durant and pendant can also be used for a future duration, but pour cannot be used for a present or past one.
Related lessons
- Adverbs of time
- Telling time
- Introduction to prepositions
- PwLF super list of preposition lessons
- Parts of speech
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