Depuis vs pendant vs pour
The short answer
Depuis is for something that started in the past and is still going on, and it takes the present tense. Pendant is for a finished stretch of time, and takes the past. Pour is for time planned in advance, usually with the future. The choice depends on the timeframe, not on the English word.
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At a glance
Depuis or Pendant or Pour?
| Compare | DepuisStarted earlier, still going. Present tense. | PendantA completed stretch. Past tense. | PourTime set aside in advance. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Is it still going on? | Yes | No: it finished | Not yet: it is planned |
| Tense it takes | Present: j’habite ici depuis | Passé composé: j’ai habité | Future or present |
| English equivalent | for, since | for, during | for |
| Can it take a start point? | Yes: depuis 2019, depuis lundi | No: a duration only | No: a duration only |
| Typical sentence | J’apprends le français depuis trois ans. | J’ai vécu à Nice pendant trois ans. | Je pars à Nice pour trois ans. |
How to choose
Ask these, in order
- 1
Is the situation still true right now?
Depuis, and the verb goes into the present, not the past.
Je travaille ici depuis six mois.
I’ve been working here for six months.
NBFrench uses the present where English uses a perfect. Je travaillais would mean you no longer do.
- 2
Is it over?
Pendant, with a past tense. The stretch is closed and the sentence is reporting it.
J’ai attendu pendant vingt minutes.
I waited for twenty minutes.
- 3
Is it a plan, time set aside that has not happened yet?
Pour. It expresses intended duration rather than actual duration.
Elle part au Canada pour un an.
She’s going to Canada for a year.
NBWhether she stays a year is not the point; a year is what is planned.
- 4
Are you naming a starting point rather than a length?
Depuis, which takes both. Depuis 2019 and depuis trois ans are both correct.
Il est malade depuis lundi.
He’s been ill since Monday.
Side by side
Each one, in full
Depuis: still going
Started earlier, still going. Present tense.
Depuis marks something that began earlier and has not stopped. The verb goes into the present tense, which is the part English speakers find hardest, because English switches to a perfect: I have been living here. French keeps the present because the living is still happening.
It takes both a duration and a start point, which neither of the others does. Depuis trois ans and depuis 2021 are both natural, and both mean the situation is current.
Nous nous connaissons depuis l’université.
We’ve known each other since university.
Il pleut depuis ce matin.
It’s been raining since this morning.
NBPresent tense, because it is still raining.
Je n’ai pas vu Marie depuis deux ans.
I haven’t seen Marie for two years.
NBWith a negative, depuis takes the passé composé, the not-seeing is what continues.
Pendant: a finished stretch
A completed stretch. Past tense.
Pendant measures a completed period, so it sits naturally with the passé composé. It answers “for how long?” about something that is over, and it can also mean “during”: pendant les vacances, pendant la réunion.
It is often left out altogether. J’ai attendu vingt minutes is as correct as j’ai attendu pendant vingt minutes, and slightly more natural in speech: a bare duration after a past-tense verb is understood.
Elle a travaillé chez Renault pendant dix ans.
She worked at Renault for ten years.
Pendant la réunion, personne n’a rien dit.
During the meeting, nobody said anything.
Il a neigé pendant trois jours.
It snowed for three days.
NBOver and done with, compare il neige depuis trois jours, which means it is still snowing.
Pour: planned time
Time set aside in advance.
Pour expresses intended duration. It appears with verbs of going, coming and leaving, and it describes the plan rather than the outcome: je pars pour deux semaines says how long the trip is meant to be.
Using pour for a duration that has already happened is the commonest error with this word. J’ai habité à Paris pour trois ans is wrong; the stay is finished, so it needs pendant.
Je viens à Paris pour trois jours.
I’m coming to Paris for three days.
Ils louent la maison pour l’été.
They’re renting the house for the summer.
Il est parti pour toujours.
He’s gone for good.
NBA fixed expression, and a clear case of intended rather than measured duration.
Mistakes to avoid
What learners actually get wrong
J’ai habité ici depuis trois ans.
J’habite ici depuis trois ans.
Depuis takes the present when the situation continues. The perfect is what English uses, and copying it produces a sentence that says you no longer live there, the opposite of what was meant.
J’ai travaillé là-bas pour cinq ans.
J’ai travaillé là-bas pendant cinq ans.
The job is over, so it is a measured stretch, not a plan. Pour would only work if you were describing an arrangement made in advance.
Je suis ici pendant deux semaines.
Je suis ici depuis deux semaines.
Said a week into a stay that is still going on, this needs depuis. Pendant deux semaines describes the whole stay as finished, which contradicts the fact that you are speaking from inside it.
Depuis combien de temps as-tu appris le français ?
Depuis combien de temps apprends-tu le français ?
The question inherits the same tense rule as the answer. Since the learning is ongoing, the question goes in the present too.
Now use it
Prépositions à, de, en, dans
Places, times and the au / du / aux contractions. Reading a rule and being able to apply it are different skills, and only one of them shows up when you speak.
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Questions
Asked and answered
- What about il y a and ça fait?
- Il y a marks a point in the past: je suis arrivé il y a trois jours, I arrived three days ago. Ça fait is an alternative to depuis with the same meaning and the same present tense: ça fait trois ans que j’habite ici. The word order differs, ça fait goes at the front and needs que, but the tense rule is identical.
- Does depuis ever take a past tense?
- Yes, in two cases. With a negative, because the not-doing is what continues: je n’ai pas fumé depuis un an. And in past narration, where the imparfait replaces the present: il habitait là depuis dix ans quand je l’ai rencontré.
- Can pendant be left out?
- Usually, when a duration follows a past-tense verb directly: j’ai dormi huit heures is perfectly natural. Keep it when the sentence would otherwise be ambiguous, and always keep it in the “during” sense, pendant la réunion cannot lose it.