Depuis, Pendant, Pour and il y a
The French prepositions depuis, pendant, and—far less commonly—pour each express the __________ of an event a little differently, with the result that many English speakers mix up depuis and pendant and overuse pour.
DEPUIS Depuis means “_________" or “_______." It is used with a French verb in the present tense to talk about an action that began ___________ and ___________ in the present.
Exemples Depuis quand étudiez-vous le français ? How long have you studied French? J'étudie le français depuis 3 ans. I've studied French for 3 years (and still do). J'étudie le français depuis 2009. I've been studying French since 2009.
Pendant Pendant means “________" and refers to the __________________ of an action in the past or future, with ________________ to the present.
Exemples Pendant combien de temps avez-vous étudié le français ? How long did you study French? J'ai étudié le français pendant 3 ans. I studied French for 3 years (and then stopped). Je vais habiter en France pendant 2 mois. I'm going to live in France for 2 months.
Pendant Pendant followed by a noun means “_______________." In this sense, it is synonymous with ________________.
Exemples J'ai vu un film pendant mon séjour. I saw a film during my stay. Pendant ce temps, il m'attendait. During this time, he waited for me.
Il y a… “Il y a” means “_________" and can only be used for things that are __________________. The verb in the sentence must be in the ________ and il y a must be followed by some reference to _________.
Exemples Il a parlé il y a 5 minutes. He spoke 5 minutes ago. Je suis arrivée il y a une heure. I arrived an hour ago. Il a parlé il y a 5 minutes. He spoke 5 minutes ago. Il y a deux jours, j'ai vu un chat noir. Two days ago, I saw a black cat.