Sriwanthi Thilakarathna

Le Franais

Depuis/pendant/pour/il y a/ a fait...que...
DEPUIS = indicates the origin of an action/a situation that is still continuing at the moment or
that was still going on at the time something else happened. If the action is still current, you can
simply conjugate the verb in the sentence in the present tense.

Il fume depuis 10 ans =
a fait 10 ans quil fume
Il fume depuis 1990
Il fumait depuis 10 ans =
imperfect)
Hes been smoking for ten years (depuis + present)
= Hes been smoking for 10 years (alternative to depuis)
= Hes smoked since 1990
Hed been smoking for 10 years (depuis +

PENDANT = indicates the duration of an action/situation. It is

mostly used when speaking in the past tense about an action that
is over, but can also be used in the present when expressing a
generality.

Il a fum pendant 10 ans = He smoked for 10 years (pendant +

perfect)

POUR = is used to project how long a specific action/situation will last in the future. You
can conjugate the verb in the present if youre speaking about schedules/timetables.

Il va fumer pour 10 minutes = Hes going to smoke for 10 minutes (future idea)

DANS = indicates the start of a specific action/situation which will take place in the
future. Again, you may conjugate the sentence in the present when youre speaking about
timetables.

Je vais en Angleterre dans 5 jours = I am going to England in 5 days.

EN = indicates the amount of time it takes to complete an action.

Je fais mes devoirs en 1 heure = I do my homework in 1 hour.

IL Y A = an idiomatic expression meaning ago.

Il y a 10 ans il a commenc fumer = He started smoking 10 years ago.

Traduire en anglais:
1. Je croyais que tu tais l depuis cinq minutes.

2. Cest vrai que tu as vcu en France pendant vingt ans?

3. a fait cinq minutes que tu me parles de tes problmes.

4. Il ma dit quil irait en Chine pour une anne.

 Sriwanthi Thilakarathna
Le Franais

5. Il na pas fum depuis 1990.

6. Il y a 5 ans jallais un club dart dramatique.

7. Ils sont maris depuis 3 mois.

8. Depuis quand dormais-tu?

9. Vous faites ce travail depuis quelle anne?

10. Elle a continu se plaindre pendant cinq bonnes minutes.

Traduire en franais:

1. Hes been learning French for six years.

2. We worked for five hours on that project.

3. Twenty years ago I lived in Casablanca in Morocco.

4. Shed been listening for a whole hour when she fell asleep.

5. He intends to go to Belgium for two years.

6. Weve been learning chemistry since 1994.

7. Ive been watching this programme for ten minutes.

8. This man remained single for thirty years.

9. Since when have you played the guitar?

10. How long have you been learning French?

Fill in the blank with the correct proposition: depuis, pendant, or pour.

1. Tex est rest au caf ______ une heure.

2. Tex et Tammy sortent ensemble ______ un an.
3. Edouard est serveur ______ longtemps.
4. Tammy a connu Tex ______ ses tudes Lyon.
5. Tex connat Joe-Bob ______ son arrive Austin.
 Sriwanthi Thilakarathna
Le Franais

6. Tammy tudie le franais ______ cinq ans.

7. Tammy a voyag en France ______ deux mois.
8. Tous les jours Tex reste au caf ______ deux heures pour crire des pomes.
9. Tex va aller en Louisiane ______ deux jours.
10. Tex: Tammy et moi partirons chez ses parents ______ deux longues semaines.
11. Tammy: Je suis amoureuse de Tex ______ un an!
12. Fiona a tudi ______ cinq heures hier soir.

Faire des phrases:

1. depuis - apprendre - piano - 5 ans
2. il y a - commencer - collectionner - timbres - jeune
3. pendant - rester - en Espagne - 10 ans - chez sa soeur
4. depuis - skier - 5 minutes - quand - tomber
5. pour - compter - au Portugal - deux ans - travailler - comme au pair
 Sriwanthi Thilakarathna
Le Franais

Quelle prposition ?
Dans chaque phrase souligner la prposition correcte
1. Jai commenc (de/) faire lexercice.
2. Elle a continu (en//de) faire le mnage.
3. Il a refus (de/) partir lheure prvue.
4. Il a lu un bouquin (dans/sur) le train.
5. Il habite (dans//en) Normandie.
6. Es-tu jamais all (au/en) Portugal ?
7. Il a commenc (en/par) allumer lordinateur.
8. Tu narrtes jamais (de//par) crier !
9. Il joue souvent ( la/de la) flte.
10. Elle a termin son dner (devant/avant) moi.
11. Il a saut (par dessus/au dessus/par dessous) le mur.
12. Rendez-vous (en dehors du/devant le/hors du) cinma.
13. Jai vu un avion (au-dessus de/sur) ta tte.
14. Vous avez dcid (/de) lire le nouveau Harry Potter.
15. Je me suis dcid (de/) jouer en public.
16. Elle essayait toujours (/de) faire de son mieux.
17. Je nai rien (/de) dire ce sujet.
18. Il est trop intelligent (de//pour) faire une chose pareille.
19. As-tu assez dargent (pour//de) aller Barcelone ?
20. Je suis all en ville (pour/de/) acheter un pull.
21. Il adore voyager (en/par) voiture.
22. Mais quelquefois il est oblig daller (en//sur) pied.
23. Je serai l du 15 juin (/au/jusqu) 15 septembre.
24. Il a hsit (de/) formuler une rponse prcise.
25. Je nai pas pens (de/) acheter un cadeau.
26. La route tait couverte (avec/en/de) boue.
27. Il tait trs fch (contre/avec) moi.
28. Je suis arriv (environ/vers) seize heures.
29. Il y avait (vers/environ) vingt personnes dans la salle.
30. Il a vcu en France (pour/depuis/pendant) 10 ans.

Depuis, pour, pendant, dans, en, a fait which one do I use?

 Sriwanthi Thilakarathna
Le Franais

How long have you been studying French? Ive been taking lessons for 5 years and I went to a
French language school every week for 1 year!
How do you translate this simple question and reply without getting into a muddle? As you learn
French, you will discover the temporal prepositions (pour, pendant, il y a, a fait, etc) and
you will notice that they are used quite differently in French than in English. Using the wrong
preposition can change the time period of your message, and thus may create real confusion. It is
sometimes challenging to learn how to keep them all straight, but it is worth the time and effort.
So how do they work and how do we use them?
Lets first identify each preposition:

DEPUIS = indicates the origin of an action/a situation that is still continuing at the moment or
that was still going on at the time something else happened. If the action is still current, you
can simply conjugate the verb in the sentence in the present tense.
Example: Je suis ici depuis 2001 = Ive been here since 2001
Example: Elle tait prte depuis 3 heures quand je suis alle la chercher = She had been ready
for 3 hours when I went to fetch/pick her up.

PENDANT = indicates the duration of an action/situation. It is

mostly used when speaking in the past tense about an action that is
over, but can also be used in the present when expressing a
generality.

Example: Je suis reste en Angleterre pendant 5 jours = I stayed in

England for 5 days.
Example: Je fais du jogging tous les matins pendant 30 minutes = I
jog every morning for 30 minutes.

POUR = is used to project how long a specific action/situation will

last in the future. You can conjugate the verb in the present if youre speaking about
schedules/timetables.

Example: Je reste en Angleterre pour 5 jours = I am staying in England for 5 days.

Note: The French will also use pendant in this case; either one is acceptable.

DANS = indicates the start of a specific action/situation which will take place in the future.
Again, you may conjugate the sentence in the present when youre speaking about timetables.

Example: Je vais en Angleterre dans 5 jours = I am going to England in 5 days.

EN = indicates the amount of time it takes to complete an action.

Example: Je fais mes devoirs en 1 heure = I do my homework in 1 hour.

IL Y A = an idiomatic expression meaning ago.

Example: Je suis venue en France il y a 5 ans = I came to France 5 years ago.

 Sriwanthi Thilakarathna
Le Franais

= It is used to express the clock time at which an event occurs.

Example: Jai rendez-vous 10h = I have an appointment at 10 oclock.

Note: We also use a fait . . . que a lot to indicate Ive been.. or its been.. !!

Example: a fait 5 ans que je suis en France = Ive been in France for 5 years.

Lets hope you are not still confused. It may be even clearer in the following real life situational
scenarios. As many of you in our survey expressed the wish to have scenarios for beginners also,
the first one is written for beginning-level language learners and the second for intermediate
learners.

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1. depuis
2. pendant
3. pour

There are three prepositions in French, depuis, pendant and pour, that are translated as 'for'
and are used to indicate the duration of an event.

depuis
If an event began in the past and is continuing into the present, use 'depuis' with the present
tense. For example:

Tammy: Tex et moi sommes Tammy: Tex and I have been

 Sriwanthi Thilakarathna
Le Franais

ensemble depuis un an. together for a year.

pendant
Pendant literally means 'during', but it is usually best expressed in English as 'for' plus a
certain amount of time. It can be used with all tenses.

Tex: Tous les jours, je parle avec
Tammy pendant une heure.
Tex: A Nol, Tammy et moi
resterons chez ses parents
pendant deux semaines.
Tex: Everyday, I talk with
Tammy for an hour.
Tex: For Christmas, Tammy and
I will stay at her parents' for two
weeks.

Pendant is used with the pass compos to indicate how long a completed activity lasted. Be
careful not to use depuis with the pass compos in this context.

Tex: J'ai attendu Edouard pendant Tex: I waited for Edouard for an
une heure. Finalement, il est hour. Finally he arrived. He is
arriv. Il est toujours en retard. always late.

pour
The preposition pour is used in a variety of contexts. When translated as 'for' in English, it
may designate the duration of a future event with the verbs partir and aller. Note that the verb
may be conjugated in either the present or future tense.

Tammy: A Nol, Tex et moi, Tammy: For Christmas, Tex and

nous allons chez moi pour deux I are going to my house for two
semaines. weeks.
Tex: C'est vrai, nous partirons Tex: It's true, we will leave for
pour deux longues semaines. two long weeks.

Listen to the dialogue:


Tammy: Salut, Tex. a va?
Tex: Non, ce n'est pas mon jour!
Je pars pour le week-end. Je vais
rendre visite Paw-Paw. J'ai
attendu le bus pendant une heure
ce matin. Puis je l'ai rat cause
de Bette.
Tammy: Qu'est-ce qu'elle a fait?
Tex: Je ne vais pas te le dire.
Tammy: Nous sortons ensemble
depuis un an. Tu ne peux plus
garder de secrets comme a!
Fill in the blank with the correct proposition: depuis, pendant, or pour.
1. Tex est rest au caf ______ une heure.
2. Tex et Tammy sortent ensemble ______ un an.
3. Edouard est serveur ______ longtemps.
4. Tammy a connu Tex ______ ses tudes Lyon.
Sriwanthi Thilakarathna
Le Franais
Tammy: Hi Tex. How are you?
Tex: Not well! This is not my
day! I am leaving for the
weekend. I am going to visit
Paw-Paw. I waited for the bus for
an hour this morning. Then I
missed it because of Bette.
Tammy: What did she do?
Tex: I am not going to tell you.
Tammy: We have been going out
for a year. You can't keep secrets
like that anymore!
 Sriwanthi Thilakarathna
Le Franais

5. Tex connat Joe-Bob ______ son arrive Austin.

6. Tammy tudie le franais ______ cinq ans.

7. Tammy a voyag en France ______ deux mois.

8. Tous les jours Tex reste au caf ______ deux heures pour crire des pomes.

9. Tex va aller en Louisiane ______ deux jours.

10. Tex: Tammy et moi partirons chez ses parents ______ deux longues semaines.

11. Tammy: Je suis amoureuse de Tex ______ un an!

12. Fiona a tudi ______ cinq heures hier soir.

tex's french franais coerll ut austin contact

grammar interactif

Depuis, Pendant, Pour

French prepositions
By Laura K. Lawless, About.com Guide
 Sriwanthi Thilakarathna
Le Franais

See More About:

depuis
pendant
pour
french prepositions
french mistakes

The French prepositions depuis, pendant, andfar less commonlypour each express the
duration of an event a little differently, with the result that many English speakers mix up depuis
and pendant and overuse pour. This lesson explains the different meanings and uses for each
preposition.

Depuis means "since" or "for." It is used with a French verb in the present tense to talk about an
action that began in the past and continues in the present. In English, this is indicated by the
present perfect or present perfect progressive.

Depuis quand tudiez-vous le franais ?

How long have you studied French?

J'tudie le franais depuis 3 ans.

I've studied French for 3 years (and still do).

J'tudie le franais depuis 2009.

I've been studying French since 2009.

Depuis can also indicate something that was occurring in the past when it was interrupted by
some other action. In French, this is stated with the imparfait plus pass compos; in English, the
past perfect progressive plus simple past.

Depuis combien de temps dormais-tu quand je suis arriv ?

How long had you been sleeping when I arrived?

Il vivait en France depuis 2 ans quand je l'ai vu.

He'd been living in France for two years when I saw him.

Pendant means "for" and refers to the entire duration of an action in the past or future, with no
relation to the present.

Pendant combien de temps avez-vous tudi le franais ?

How long did you study French?

J'ai tudi le franais pendant 3 ans.

I studied French for 3 years (and then stopped).
 Sriwanthi Thilakarathna
Le Franais

Je vais habiter en France pendant 2 mois.

I'm going to live in France for 2 months.

Pendant followed by a noun means "during." In this sense, it is synonymous with durant.

J'ai vu un film pendant mon sjour.

I saw a film during my stay.

Pendant ce temps, il m'attendait.

During this time, he waited for me.

Pour can express the duration of an event only in the future. Note that pendant could also be
used in all of these.

Je vais y habiter pour 2 mois.

I'm going to live there for 2 months.

Il tudiera en Europe pour 3 ans.

He'll study in Europe for 3 years.

Le projet est suspendu pour un an.

The project is suspended for a year.

Although the verb in the final example is not in the future, the use of pour indicates that the one-
year suspension is either about to start or is currently underway. If the suspension had already
occurred, you would have to use pendant:

Le projet a t suspendu pendant un an.

The project was suspended for a year.