Using 'depuis' (since / for) with Le Présent and NOT Le Passé Composé (prepositions of time)

Hi Sagar,

s'habillaient is the imperfect, se sont habillés would be passé composé. 

-- Chris. 

Hi Sagar,

You can only use the imperfect ( imparfait) here as it describes something people did (used to do) in the past.

It is not a question of agreement, as the s'habillaient is in the third person plural (they) it is just the tense that is wrong.

Look at the lesson below for further understanding:

https://french.kwiziq.com/revision/grammar/l-imparfait-usage-expressing-habits-or-repeated-actions-in-the-past-imperfect-tense

Hope this helps!

Thank you, Cécile and Chris.

I understand now. It really comes down to the idea that l'imparfait should be used when describing an ongoing action in the past. I was under the impression that l'imparfait was only required for the first part of the answer ("j'etais"), while the passé composé could be used for the second part.

It's clear now. Thank you so much.

I love Lawless French.

Hi Dennis, "I've played/done X since..." implies you still do the activity. If you have stopped you would say "I played" instead.

Do you mean "I played football since 2001"?

"I played football when I was young", or "I played football up until last year", or "I played from ... to... " (no longer play)
versus
"I've played all my all life" "I've played football since 2001" (still play)

I can't think of a context in which I'd say "I played football since 2001" - that incomplete to me, like the rest of the sentence is missing - but if that sounds okay to you then it could be a regional thing?

Anyway, French is generally more strict than English, and of course, the point is that depuis is used with the present tense.

Hi Gruff, I understand and agree with what you say above, but there is an ambiguity in the statement "I have played football since 2001".
Take the case of someone who last played football in 2002 - when he played only one single time. To the question: "Have you played football since 2001?" , he could truthfully say "[yes,]I have played football since 2001 [but just the once]".
But... if you asked the question: "Have you been playing football since 2001" (which is what I think you are meaning), he would answer "No".
To make the meaning absolutely clear, you have to use the progressive form - "have you been playing" (to denote an on-going action) and not the past (as you have done).
I hope this clarifies the point I was making. :-)

Ah! Thanks for expanding on your point, Dennis. I completely understand what you meant now!

Yes, this is a complexity in the English where emphasis on the auxiliary 'have' can be used to assert something, emphasise a fact and can change the meaning. Of course, in speech this would be very clear, but it's harder to get across in text. The use of the progressive form is unambiguous as you say but, both might used in speech.

It hadn't occurred to me that the English might be read that way so this discussion hopefully clarifies that for everyone reading!

Thanks Dennis.

Bonjour Nikita, both teh present perfect and present perfect continuous can describe something that began in the past and continues into the present. Using the continuous emphasizes the ongoing nature, but the present parfect isn't wrong. Since there's no distinction between these two forms, I have live and I have been living, in French, we've chosen the simpler translation to avoid confusion.

Hi Melanie, I think I understand your confusion.

Remember that in English, "have" is an auxiliary verb in sentences like "I have been" (this tense is called the present perfect in English, and is composed of a present tense conjugation of "to have" + the past participle of the verb, which in this case is "to be" - this structure is very similar to Le Passé Composé).

Now, when we use "depuis" to express "since" or "for" in French, we use it with the present tense. In constrast, in English, we use the present perfect.

So, "être avec" (to be with someone) in the present tense is "Je suis avec". In the English equivalent, "have" appears because we need to transpose the tense to the present perfect and so it becomes "I have been". You see than "to be" is still there but it's become the past participle in English, and have is just the usual auxiliary verb that's always part of that tense. I hope that makes sense?

In fact, to my opinion, the proper translation would be 'I am with my girlfrieng since 2005'. This makes more sense.

That sounds a bit odd, though? Anyway, the point is, if you want to describe the fact that you have been with your girlfriend since 2005 you can never use "j'ai" in French. So while you can say:

"I have been with my girlfriend since 2005"

You need to say:

"Je suis avec ma copine depuis 2005"

and never:

"J'ai été avec..."

Bonjour Brittany,
It seems to me that in your first phrase «Je joue du piano depuis j'avais six ans» --> J'ai joué au piano depuis j'avais six ans -- would be more correct by using the passé composé along with l'imparfait; however, since playing the piano is a habit or something learned that is still ongoing, I would rephrase it to be Je jouais du piano depuis j'ai eu six ans due to the fact that playing the piano is a habit, learned skill that is continuing. One caveat here, like a former French teacher told the class, the French language is not simply English translated into French.
And your second phrase, I believe is the most grammatically correct.
Bonne chance,

Hi Paul - great question. It could mean either. You'd need more content to work out which was meant in this case.

I would translate this as, "ton absence n'est pas passée inaperçu" (but I am not a native speaker).

-- Chris.

Bonjour Cristina (and Chris) !

Chris, you're absolutely spot on, but for a tiny mistake :)

Ton absence n'est pas passée inaperçue.

Bonne journée à tous les deux !

[person] noir(e)
⇒ She's black. Elle est noire.
I am not finding the noir reference in the lesson listed with your question.

Bonjour Daniel !

That's a great question, and the answer is simpler than it seems :)

Here it's not the woman who's black, but her clothes = in black (clothing).
Therefore, the adjective won't agree here: "en + [masculine colour]".
"La Dame en noir / en blanc / en vert..."
It would be the same in sentences such as:
"J'aimerais cette jupe en violet." (I'd like this skirt in purple.)

I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !

Bonjour William !

Très bel effort !
Note that "durant" is much less common than its synonym "pendant" in French, and that in most cases (especially with durations) you can simply omit it altogether.

Your sentence is really good *but* for the last "pour" which is wrong here. With durations (times), it will always be "pendant/durant".
You could have said "pour les vacances" or "pour mon examen" for example.

Here's another version :)
"J'étudie le français (pendant) deux heures tous les jours depuis mon anniversaire le mois dernier, car je vais aller en France pour les vacances."

Bonnne journée !

Bonjour Nancy !

No, you can use L'Imparfait with depuis, just not in the same cases as explained in this lesson.
You will use L'Imparfait when talking about an event that WAS/HAD BEEN HAPPENING in the past. Usually in the context of a story:
"Elle dormait depuis dix minutes lorsque soudain elle fut (Passé Simple) réveillée par un bruit."
(She was/had been sleeping for ten minutes when she was suddenly woken up by a noise.)

I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !