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There are three prepositions in French, depuis,
pendant and pour, that are translated as 'for' and are used to indicate the duration of an event.
depuis
If an event began in the past and is continuing into the present,
use 'depuis' with the present tense. For example:
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| Tammy: Tex et moi sommes ensemble depuis un an. |
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Tammy: Tex and I have been together for a year. |
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pendant
Pendant literally means 'during', but it is usually best expressed in English as 'for' plus a certain amount of time. It can be used with all tenses.
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| Tex: Tous les jours, je parle avec Tammy pendant une heure. |
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Tex: Everyday, I talk with Tammy for an hour. |
| Tex: A Noël, Tammy et moi resterons chez ses parents pendant deux semaines. |
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Tex: For Christmas, Tammy and I will stay at her parents' for two weeks. |
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Pendant is used with the passé composé to indicate how long a completed activity lasted.
Be careful not to use depuis with the passé composé in this context.
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| Tex: J'ai attendu Edouard pendant une heure. Finalement, il est arrivé. Il est toujours en retard. |
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Tex: I waited for Edouard for an hour. Finally he arrived. He is always late. |
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pour
The preposition pour is used in a variety of contexts.
When translated as 'for' in English, it may designate the duration of a future event with the verbs partir
and aller. Note that the verb may be conjugated in either the present or future tense.
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| Tammy: A Noël, Tex et moi, nous allons chez moi pour deux semaines. |
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Tammy: For Christmas, Tex and I are going to my house for two weeks. |
| Tex: C'est vrai, nous partirons pour deux longues semaines. |
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Tex: It's true, we will leave for two long weeks. |
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Listen to the dialogue:
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| Tammy: Salut, Tex. Ça va? |
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Tammy: Hi Tex. How are you? |
| Tex: Non, ce n'est pas mon jour! Je pars pour le week-end. Je vais rendre visite à Paw-Paw. J'ai attendu le bus pendant une heure ce matin. Puis je l'ai raté à cause de Bette. |
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Tex: Not well! This is not my day! I am leaving for the weekend. I am going to visit Paw-Paw. I waited for the bus for an hour this morning. Then I missed it because of Bette. |
| Tammy: Qu'est-ce qu'elle a fait? |
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Tammy: What did she do? |
| Tex: Je ne vais pas te le dire. |
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Tex: I am not going to tell you. |
| Tammy: Nous sortons ensemble depuis un an. Tu ne peux plus garder de secrets comme ça! |
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Tammy: We have been going out for a year. You can't keep secrets like that anymore! |
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