Depuis vs Pendant vs Il y a: French Time Expressions

"How long have you been learning French?" is a question you'll hear constantly — from teachers, from French friends, from that one relative who spent a summer in Provence — and it's also one of the fastest ways to accidentally sound like a beginner, because English answers it with a single word, "for," that French splits three different ways. Say the wrong one and you'll still be understood, but you'll sound like you're translating in your head instead of actually thinking in French.

This mix-up shows up constantly past a first conversation: describing how long you've lived somewhere, how long a trip lasted, how many years ago you moved, how long ago you finished school. English handles all of that with "for" or "ago" and leaves context to sort out the rest. French instead splits the job across three distinct words — depuis, pendant, and il y a — each tied to a different relationship between the action and right now. Learn to tell them apart, and a whole category of everyday small talk stops requiring a mental translation first.

Use depuis (duh-PWEE) — since / for — when an action started in the past and is still going on right now. Here's the trap: English says "I have been learning French for three years," a past-sounding construction, but French uses the present tense here: j'apprends le français depuis trois ans. Because apprends is present tense, that sentence reads literally as "I learn French since three years" — awkward in English, completely natural in French, and the single most common tense mistake English speakers make with this word. Depuis also works with a specific starting point instead of a duration: j'habite à Lyon depuis 2019 (I've lived in Lyon since 2019).

Pendant (pahn-DAHN) — for / during — describes a duration without claiming the action is still happening. It pairs naturally with a completed past action: j'ai vécu à Marseille pendant deux ans (I lived in Marseille for two years) tells you those two years are over. Pendant also covers anything happening within a stretch of time, finished or not: je révise pendant les vacances (I study during the vacation). The test that separates it from depuis: if the action is finished, or you're just naming the window it happened in, reach for pendant; if it's still going on right now, reach for depuis.

Il y a (eel-yah) does double duty in French, which is part of what makes it confusing. Placed at the start of a sentence with a time expression, it means "ago": je suis arrivé en France il y a six mois (I arrived in France six months ago). The exact same three words placed differently mean "there is / there are" — il y a un problème (there's a problem) — so context, not the words themselves, tells you which job they're doing. As an "ago" marker, il y a always points to a single moment in the past, not an ongoing stretch of time, which is what separates it from both depuis and pendant.

Grammar note: the single biggest error to watch for is pairing depuis with the passé composé the way English intuition suggests. "I have been living here for five years" invites j'ai habité ici depuis cinq ans, but that's wrong — French wants the present tense: j'habite ici depuis cinq ans. Save the passé composé for pendant, where a completed action already matches the tense: j'ai habité à Nice pendant cinq ans (I lived in Nice for five years, and don't anymore). One more mix-up worth flagging: dans (dahn) — in — covers future duration, not past. Il part dans deux heures means he's leaving in two hours, not two hours ago; "ago" is always il y a's job, and only for the past.

Cultural note: depuis quand ? (since when?) and depuis combien de temps ? (for how long?) are genuine conversation starters in France, not just grammar-book prompts — asking how long someone has lived in a city, worked at a job, or been with a partner is completely normal small talk, arguably more common than it is in English. Answering smoothly with depuis instead of pausing to translate "for" is one of the fastest ways to sound like you're actually thinking in French rather than English.

A quick set of phrases worth having ready: depuis (duh-PWEE) — since / for, ongoing — pendant (pahn-DAHN) — for / during, a duration — il y a (eel-yah) — ago — dans (dahn) — in, future duration — depuis quand ? (duh-pwee kahn) — since when? — depuis combien de temps ? (duh-pwee kohn-byan duh tahn) — for how long? — il y a combien de temps ? (eel-yah kohn-byan duh tahn) — how long ago? — pendant combien de temps ? (pahn-dahn kohn-byan duh tahn) — for how long (a duration)?

Picture this exchange at a language exchange meetup in Lyon: someone asks Tu habites ici depuis combien de temps ? (How long have you lived here?) and you want to answer naturally instead of freezing up. If you moved there two years ago and still live there, you'd say J'habite ici depuis deux ans — present tense, ongoing. If they then ask about a study-abroad semester from years earlier, that's finished, so pendant and the passé composé take over: J'ai étudié à Lyon pendant six mois, il y a trois ans (I studied in Lyon for six months, three years ago) — notice pendant and il y a both showing up in the same sentence, each doing its own job.

Try it yourself. Fill in the blank with depuis or pendant: J'habite à Paris ___ dix ans et j'adore cette ville (the action is still ongoing). Fill in the blank with depuis or pendant: Elle a travaillé à Londres ___ trois ans, puis elle est rentrée en France (the action is finished). Translate to French using il y a: "We arrived two days ago." Translate to French using depuis and the present tense: "I have been studying French for one year." Multiple choice: which word means "in" for something happening in the future — depuis, pendant, or dans? Spot the error and correct it: "J'ai habité ici depuis cinq ans" — what should this sentence say instead?

Answer key: J'habite à Paris depuis dix ans — ongoing action, so depuis with the present tense. Elle a travaillé à Londres pendant trois ans — finished action, so pendant. "We arrived two days ago" is Nous sommes arrivés il y a deux jours. "I have been studying French for one year" is J'apprends le français depuis un an — present tense, not passé composé. The future-facing word is dans. And the error sentence should read J'habite ici depuis cinq ans — present tense, since the action is still ongoing.

Three things to carry forward: depuis pairs with the present tense for anything still happening right now, pendant names a duration whether or not it's finished, and il y a marks a specific point in the past whenever it's followed by a time expression rather than meaning "there is." Once those three roles feel separate instead of one blurry English "for," you'll answer depuis quand ? without translating in your head first. Ready to make it automatic? Head over to Grammar for the full depuis, pendant, and il y a reference, or try a round of Exercises to drill the tense pairing until it stops requiring any thought at all.