depuis, pendant, il y a
The passé composé with avoir — talking about yesterday · Il y a — "there is / there are" · Telling the time
Three ways to put a duration on an event. Choosing between them is about whether the situation is finished.
| depuis | since / for — still true now | J'habite ici depuis trois ans. |
|---|---|---|
| pendant | for — a finished stretch | J'ai travaillé là pendant deux ans. |
| il y a | ago — a point in the past | Je suis arrivé il y a trois ans. |
The tense follows from the choice, and this is the part English speakers get wrong:
- depuis takes the present, because the situation is still going on. J'apprends le français depuis six mois. — I have been learning French for six months (and still am). English uses a past form here; French does not.
- pendant takes the passé composé, because the stretch is over. J'ai étudié pendant six mois. — and then I stopped.
- il y a takes the passé composé, because it dates a single event. Il est parti il y a deux jours.
To ask, use depuis quand (since when) or depuis combien de temps (how long):
- — Vous habitez ici depuis combien de temps ?
- — Depuis deux ans.
Do not confuse this il y a with the il y a meaning there is. Same words, and only the presence of a duration after it tells them apart: il y a un problème (there is a problem) versus il y a un mois (a month ago).
Knowing the rule is not the same as producing it.
This page explains the pattern. The track drills it: the point arrives inside a mini-dialogue, then production marked against a CEFR descriptor, then a module test that returns you to your two weakest sessions if you miss it.