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Since vs For vs Ago — The Time Trio

10 min
A2

The "depuis" problem

French has one word — depuis — for situations where English has three different words with different grammar. This is the single most common grammar mistake French speakers make in English.

Since = point in time

"I've lived in Lyon since 2018."
J'habite à Lyon depuis 2018.
→ Since + a DATE or MOMENT. Since Monday, since January, since 2018, since I started this job.

For = duration

"I've lived in Lyon for 6 years."
J'habite à Lyon depuis 6 ans.
→ For + a LENGTH OF TIME. For 6 years, for 3 months, for a week, for ages.

Ago = finished past

"I moved to Lyon 6 years ago."
J'ai déménagé à Lyon il y a 6 ans.
→ Ago + PAST SIMPLE. Ago looks back from now. The action is finished. "Il y a" = ago.

The tense trap

Since/For → present perfect (or present perfect continuous): "I've lived here since/for..."
Ago → past simple: "I moved here 6 years ago."
French uses present tense with "depuis" — "j'habite depuis..." English NEVER does this. "I live here since 6 years" has three errors: wrong tense, wrong time word, wrong preposition.

Quick test

Can you put a date after it? → since. (since 2018, since Monday)
Can you put a number + time unit? → for. (for 6 years, for 3 weeks)
Is the action finished? → ago + past simple. (6 years ago, I moved)

Common mistakes

"I live here since 6 years" → "I've lived here for 6 years" (or "since 2018").
"I work here since 3 months" → "I've been working here for 3 months."
"I came here before 6 years" → "I came here 6 years ago."

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  1. ‘I take the salmon, please.’
  2. ‘Can we have the addition?’
  3. ‘I am allergic at nuts.’

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