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Today a little grammar. Here are some sentences you might hear if you are talking to French people:
Vous êtes en France depuis quand? (How long have you been in France?)Vous habitez Paris depuis combien de temps? (How long have you been living in Paris?)J’habite à Paris depuis quinze ans. (I’ve been living in Paris for fifteen years.)Depuis combien de temps étudiez-vous le français? (How long have you been studying French?)Il conduit depuis quatre heures. (He has been driving for four hours.)Nous nous reposons depuis une heure? (We have been resting for an hour?)Vous attendez ici depuis une demi-heure? (You have been waiting for a half hour?)how long have you worked here in french
Depuis means “for” when used with the present tense and followed by a time expression. It is used to show that an action began in the past, but is still happening in the present. This construction is the equivalent to the present perfect in English; in other words, “has/have been ___ing”. This structure cannot be directly translated word for word, so be careful!
Now, you may have noticed above that I used both structures “habiter Paris” without a preposition and “habiter à Paris” with the preposition in the above examples and you may think I have made a mistake. Neither are mistakes and both are not only grammatically correct, but often used and heard by the French and Parisians in particular. Habiter can be considered transitive or intransitive and therefore can be used with or without a preposition. Now, where the real controversy lies is in the much-used expression by Parisians “J’habite sur Paris” which is not really considered grammatically correct by all, but has become accepted or not-so-accepted (depending on who you are talking to) common spoken language. Parisians use “sur” to mean that they live in the “banlieue” near or around Paris, but not in Paris city center itself. In a way, it’s probably to orient someone who may not know of the small town or suburb the speaker lives in, but will of course know where Paris is located. Likewise, you can also say “J’habite dans Paris” so the person you’re speaking to knows you mean that you live in Paris city center.
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Here we go with one of those pesky, little trifles that makes mastering French difficult: the preposition, “depuis”. But in this short, easy lesson, we’ll make it all make sense.
The thing you have to understand is that French people and American people think about some things differently, and an ongoing activity is one of them. If you have been doing something for a while and someone asks how long you’ve been doing it, you’ll say “I have been trimming the trees four hours” or whatever. And you’ll use that little “have been” because you started in the past.
The French aren’t like that. If they have been doing something and you come up and say, “How long have you been doing that?” they’ll answer in the present, because they’re still doing it. So here’s your basic rule:
You’re probably wondering where “depuis” fits into all this. Quite simply, “depuis,” like “since,” (or sometimes “for”) is a word that describes how long it’s been since an activity began or when that activity started. So in English, we say, “since 1952” or “since last Tuesday.” The French say, “depuis 1952” or “depuis mardi dernier.” The thing to remember is that if you use “depuis,” you have to use the time-spent-doing tense rule or your sentence will come out wrong. Let’s look at a few examples:
The second example may be a little harder to get your head around, but just remember, the French chose the tense that said he “was working” because that’s the tense for describing the most recent time that the ongoing activity of working took place. The English, on the other hand, chose the tense that described when he started. If you follow the time-spent-doing tense rule you’ll get the right tense in either language. Then you slap in “since” or “depuis” depending. So in other words, using “depuis” isn’t tricky; it’s figuring out what tense to use.how long have you worked here in french
That last sentence did more to redefine the problem than solve it. So here’s a system you can use to figure it out if you’re still having trouble: Forget about the how long/since when, et cetera. Just imagine the last time the person could be seen doing the thing. How would you describe it? Would you say “He is washing the windows,” because he’s doing it right now? Would you say, “He was washing the windows,” because while he was, he isn’t any more? If it’s the first, use the present. If it’s the second, use the imperfect. If it’s anything else, use that tense, slap a “depuis” clause on the end and the odds are you’re home free and clear. Bonne chance.
And remember to say: “Je sais utiliser le mot, “depuis,” depuis le jour où j’ai lu cette article à gbarto.com.” (I know how to use the word, “depuis,” since the day where I read that article at gbarto.com)
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