Depuis vs Pendant vs Il y a: French Time Prepositions
Three French words all translate loosely to English time expressions, and every one of them works differently from its closest English equivalent. Depuis, pendant, and il y a trip up learners constantly, and the biggest trap isn’t vocabulary — it’s tense.
The short version
- Depuis = since/for, an action still ongoing now, paired with the PRESENT tense in French (not the perfect, like English uses).
- Pendant = during/for, a duration that’s complete or fully specified, any tense.
- Il y a = ago, marking a point in the past.
The single biggest mental adjustment: if the action is still happening right now, French uses the present tense with depuis, where English instinctively reaches for “have been doing.”
When to use depuis
- Ongoing action, present tense: J’habite ici depuis trois ans. (I’ve been living here for three years — and still do.)
- Since a specific point: Je la connais depuis 2019. (I’ve known her since 2019.)
- Ongoing negative: Je n’ai pas mangé depuis ce matin. (I haven’t eaten since this morning.)
- Past ongoing state: Il travaillait depuis dix ans quand il a démissionné. (He’d been working for ten years when he quit.)
- Asking how long: Depuis quand habites-tu ici? (How long have you lived here?)
When to use pendant
- A finished duration: J’ai vécu à Lyon pendant deux ans. (I lived in Lyon for two years — no longer do.)
- During a period: Pendant les vacances, on est allés à la mer. (During the holidays, we went to the sea.)
- A future planned duration: Je vais voyager pendant un mois. (I’m going to travel for a month.)
- Simultaneous background action: Il a lu pendant que j’écrivais. (He read while I was writing.)
- A specified habitual duration: Il travaille pendant huit heures chaque jour. (He works for eight hours every day.)
When to use il y a
- A point in the past: Je suis arrivé il y a deux heures. (I arrived two hours ago.)
- A one-time completed event: On s’est rencontrés il y a longtemps. (We met a long time ago.)
- Always paired with a past tense, never the present.
- Combined with depuis to reference the same point differently: Il est parti il y a trois jours vs. Il est parti depuis trois jours — both describe the same departure, but from a different grammatical angle.
Quick chart
| Depuis | Pendant | Il y a |
|---|---|---|
| Ongoing, present tense | Complete/specified duration | A point in the past |
| depuis trois ans | pendant trois ans | il y a trois ans |
| “for/since,” still true now | “for/during,” any time frame | “ago,” a fixed point |
| Can start a question (depuis quand) | Works with future plans too | Never present tense |
The tense trap that gives away non-native speakers
The single most common depuis error is translating the English structure directly. “I have been living here for three years” naturally makes an English speaker reach for a French perfect-tense construction, producing the incorrect j’ai vécu ici depuis trois ans when the action is still ongoing. The correct form is j’habite ici depuis trois ans, present tense, because French logic treats “depuis + present tense” as already covering the sense of “have been doing and still am.” The moment the action stops being current, though, the whole structure changes — you’d use passé composé with pendant instead: j’ai habité ici pendant trois ans (I lived here for three years, but not anymore). This single distinction — present tense with depuis for ongoing, past tense with pendant for finished — is one of the most reliable markers separating fluent French from a direct English translation, and native speakers notice it immediately even when every individual word is correct.
Mistakes learners make
- Using passé composé with depuis for an action still happening now — depuis wants the present tense here, not the perfect.
- Using depuis for a completed, finished duration — that’s pendant’s job, not depuis’s.
- Using il y a with the present tense — il y a always pairs with a past tense, marking a point back in time.
- Confusing depuis que (a conjunction introducing a clause) with plain depuis (a preposition before a noun or number).
- Trying to use il y a for an ongoing situation — it only marks a fixed point back in time, never a duration still continuing.
Frequently asked questions
What’s the difference between depuis and pendant?
Depuis marks an action still ongoing now and pairs with the present tense. Pendant marks a duration that’s complete or fully specified, and it can pair with any tense.
Why does depuis use the present tense in French?
Because French treats “depuis + present tense” as already expressing the idea of an action starting in the past and continuing now — there’s no need for a perfect tense the way English uses “have been doing.”
Do you use pendant or il y a for “ago”?
Il y a. Je suis parti il y a une heure means “I left an hour ago.” Pendant never means “ago” — it always refers to a duration, not a point in time.
How do you say “I’ve been waiting for two hours” in French?
J’attends depuis deux heures, using present tense, because the waiting is still happening. Saying j’ai attendu depuis deux heures is a common but incorrect direct translation.
What’s the difference between il y a and depuis?
Il y a marks a fixed point in the past (ago). Depuis marks the starting point of something still continuing now, or the duration it’s been continuing.
Can pendant be used for future duration?
Yes. Je vais rester pendant deux semaines (I’m going to stay for two weeks) uses pendant for a planned future duration, unlike depuis, which only works for something already underway.
Can il y a and depuis describe the same event?
Yes, from different angles. Il est parti il y a trois jours (he left three days ago) and il est parti depuis trois jours (he’s been gone for three days) describe the same departure, one marking the point in the past, the other the ongoing result.
These three words are a genuine grammar minefield even for advanced learners. corrector.co’s free French checker catches the depuis-with-passé-composé mistake specifically, along with other tense mismatches.
