Depuis, Pendant, Pour or Il y a: How to Choose in French
Reading time: 14 minutes
In short: use depuis for an ongoing situation, pendant for a bounded or completed duration, pour for an intended duration, and il y a to place an event at a point before now.
You want to say “for two years” in French. Should it be depuis deux ans, pendant deux ans, pour deux ans, or il y a deux ans? English often uses the same word where French distinguishes four different views of time.
The key is not the English preposition. Ask whether the situation is still continuing, complete, planned, or simply located in the past. This guide gives you a fast decision method, tense guidance, and natural examples.
Contents
Choose in four questions
- Did it start earlier and is it still continuing at the reference point? → depuis.
- Am I measuring a complete or bounded span? → pendant.
- Am I announcing an intended, planned, or agreed duration? → pour.
- Am I saying how long ago something happened? → il y a.
The five-second test: “Still going?” → depuis. “How long did it last?” → pendant. “How long is it intended to last?” → pour. “When did it happen?” → il y a.
Comparison table
| Expression | Core meaning | Question answered | Typical tense |
|---|---|---|---|
| depuis | Starting point or elapsed duration of something still ongoing | Since when? For how long so far? | Present; imperfect at a past reference point |
| pendant | Complete, bounded span | For how long? During what? | Past, present, or future depending on context |
| pour | Intended, desired, or agreed duration | For how long is it planned? | Project present, future, or past agreement/intention |
| il y a | Distance between now and a past point | How long ago? When? | Passé composé or imperfect |
1. Depuis: a duration that is still ongoing
Depuis can introduce a starting point (depuis 2022, depuis lundi) or an amount of elapsed time (depuis trois mois). The timeline remains open at the reference point.
Example 1: J’habite à Lyon depuis 2022.
“I have lived in Lyon since 2022.” It began then and is still true now.
Example 2: Elle apprend le français depuis six mois.
She has been learning French for six months and is still learning.
Example 3: Nous attendons depuis vingt minutes.
We are still waiting, so French uses the present tense.
Example 4: Je ne l’ai pas vu depuis lundi.
The period of not seeing the person started Monday and continues now.
Example 5: À cette époque, il travaillait ici depuis dix ans.
At that past reference point, the job was still ongoing: imperfect + depuis.
Example 6: Quand elle a déménagé, elle vivait à Paris depuis 2018.
The situation continued up to a past event, so the imperfect is natural.
English trap: “I have lived here for two years” is J’habite ici depuis deux ans. French normally uses the present, not the passé composé, when you still live there.
2. Pendant: a bounded duration
Pendant frames a span as a unit. It is often completed in past contexts, but it does not automatically mean “past.” You can use it for a future span too. Before a noun, it also means “during.”
Example 7: J’ai travaillé à Bordeaux pendant trois ans.
“I worked in Bordeaux for three years.” The period is finished.
Example 8: Il a plu pendant toute la nuit.
The rain is presented as one complete, bounded period.
Example 9: Nous avons parlé pendant une heure, puis elle est partie.
The stated ending confirms that the duration is complete.
Example 10: Quand j’étais enfant, je lisais pendant des heures.
The imperfect marks a past habit; each reading period had a duration.
Example 11: Je serai absent pendant deux jours.
Pendant can describe a future duration viewed as a complete span.
Example 12: Ne parle pas pendant le film.
Pendant + noun means “during” an event.
3. Pour: an intended or agreed duration
Pour + duration usually communicates intention, a booking, or a planned time frame. It does not promise that the actual duration matched the plan.
Example 13: Je pars à Nice pour une semaine.
One week is the intended length of the trip.
Example 14: Elle vient en France pour six mois.
Six months is a plan, not a report of elapsed time.
Example 15: Nous avons loué cet appartement pour un an.
The sentence focuses on the agreed rental term.
Example 16: Peux-tu garder mon chien pour le week-end ?
The speaker requests care for a planned period.
Example 17: Il est parti pour quelques jours, mais il est revenu le lendemain.
Pour gives the original intention even though reality was different.
Example 18: Je réserve cette salle pour deux heures.
Two hours is the slot the speaker wants to book.
Remember grammar through real sentences
Want to use these time markers without translating in your head? The Objectif : Parler Français books teach natural dialogues, native-speaker audio, and patterns you can reuse immediately.
4. Il y a: a point in the past
Il y a + duration means “ago.” It does not measure how long an action lasted; it locates a beginning, ending, or event on the timeline.
Example 19: Je suis arrivé en France il y a trois ans.
The arrival happened three years ago: a point before now.
Example 20: Elle m’a appelé il y a dix minutes.
The call is a completed event located in the past.
Example 21: Nous nous sommes rencontrés il y a longtemps.
Il y a tells us how far back the meeting occurred.
Example 22: Il faisait très froid il y a une semaine.
The imperfect can describe a state at that past point.
Example 23: J’ai commencé ce livre il y a deux jours.
The start happened two days ago; this does not say whether reading continues.
Example 24: Le train est parti il y a cinq minutes.
Il y a answers “when?”, not “for how long?”
The same duration, four different messages
See how deux heures changes meaning with each marker:
Example 25: Il étudie depuis deux heures.
He is still studying: ongoing elapsed duration.
Example 26: Il a étudié pendant deux heures.
The study session is over: completed duration.
Example 27: Il part à la bibliothèque pour deux heures.
He announces the amount of time he plans to stay.
Example 28: Il est parti il y a deux heures.
He left two hours ago: the departure is a past point.
Which French tense should you use?
Depuis + present
For something that began in the past and is still true now, French normally uses the present: Je travaille ici depuis mars, literally “I work here since March.”
Depuis + imperfect
If your reference point is in the past and the situation was still ongoing then, use the imperfect: En 2020, je travaillais ici depuis trois ans. The pluperfect can occur when emphasizing a state already completed before another past event, but it is not the basic ongoing pattern.
Pendant with different tenses
J’ai dormi pendant huit heures is a completed past duration. Je lisais pendant des heures describes a repeated past habit. Je reste ici pendant la pause is bounded in the present, and je travaillerai pendant deux jours is a complete future span.
Pour and intention
Je pars pour un mois or je vais partir pour un mois announces a plan. In j’ai loué la voiture pour trois jours, the three days are the booked period, not necessarily the exact time the car was used.
Il y a + a past tense
Use the passé composé for an event: Il est arrivé il y a une heure. Use the imperfect for a description or state: Il était malade il y a une semaine.
Key contrast: J’ai commencé le français il y a deux ans locates the start. J’apprends le français depuis deux ans also confirms that the learning continues.
6 common mistakes to avoid
J’habite ici pendant trois ansif you still live there → J’habite ici depuis trois ans.J’ai travaillé ici depuis cinq ansif the job is over → J’ai travaillé ici pendant cinq ans.Je pars il y a une semainefor a future plan → Je pars pour une semaine.Je suis arrivé depuis deux joursto date the arrival → Je suis arrivé il y a deux jours.J’étudie ici pour janvierif January is the starting point → J’étudie ici depuis janvier.- Do not assume pendant is always past: Je serai à Paris pendant trois jours is correct.
Pendant or pour in the future? Je travaillerai pendant deux heures presents two hours as the full span. Je vais travailler pour deux heures stresses the intended time, but everyday French often sounds more natural without a preposition: Je vais travailler deux heures.
Mini quiz: depuis, pendant, pour, or il y a?
Complete each sentence with the best answer.
- J’apprends le français ___ huit mois.
- Nous avons vécu à Lille ___ trois ans, puis nous avons déménagé.
- Elle est partie en Espagne ___ deux semaines.
- Je l’ai rencontré ___ dix ans.
- À ce moment-là, ils attendaient ___ une heure.
- Le magasin sera fermé ___ les travaux.
- J’ai réservé une voiture ___ quatre jours.
- Le bébé dort ___ vingt minutes.
- Il faisait déjà nuit ___ une heure.
- Nous avons marché ___ toute la matinée.
- depuis — the learning is still ongoing.
- pendant — the period is complete.
- pour — this is the planned length of the stay.
- il y a — the meeting happened ten years ago.
- depuis — at that past point, they had already been waiting for an hour and were still waiting.
- pendant — the closure covers the bounded construction period.
- pour — four days is the booked duration.
- depuis — the baby is still sleeping.
- il y a — the state is described at a past point.
- pendant — the whole morning is a complete span.
Practical recap
- Depuis = starting point/elapsed time + still ongoing: Je travaille depuis 9 h.
- Pendant = bounded, often completed span: J’ai travaillé pendant trois heures.
- Pour = intended or agreed duration: Je pars pour trois jours.
- Il y a = a point before now: Je suis parti il y a trois jours.
Do not translate “for” or “ago” mechanically. First decide which picture of time you need: an open line, a complete block, a plan, or a past point. That one decision will lead you to the right French expression in almost every case.
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