1. Depuis, Pendant, Pour and il y a

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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    I've been studying French since 2009.

5. Pendant
Pendant means “________" and refers to the __________________ of an action in the past or future, with ________________ to the present.

6. 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.

7. Pendant
Pendant followed by a noun means “_______________." In this sense, it is synonymous with ________________.

8. 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.

9. 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 _________.

10. 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.