1) Explanations of Time Expressions in French (With English Definitions): depuis, il y a, pendant, pour, en, ça fait

✅ 1) depuis — action that started in the past and is still continuing

• Meaning: Used to talk about something that began in the past and is still happening now.
• Example: I’ve been studying French depuis 3 years. → I am still studying.
  J’étudie le français depuis 3 ans.

👉 You can often replace depuis with ça fait … que to emphasize the duration.

---

✅ 2) il y a — action that happened in the past (finished)

• Meaning: Indicates when something happened in the past relative to now (like “ago”).
• Example: She arrived il y a two hours. → That happened and is finished.
  Elle est arrivée il y a deux heures.

---

✅ 3) pendant — duration (period of time)

• Meaning: Describes how long something lasted or lasts (past, present, or future).
• Examples:
  • I studied pendant two hours. — completed in the past
  • I work pendant 30 minutes every day. — general habit
  • I will travel pendant three weeks. — future

---

✅ 4) dans — point in the future (start time)

• Meaning: Tells when something will begin in the future.
• Example: I’m leaving dans 5 days.
  Je pars en vacances dans 5 jours.

---

✅ 5) pour — duration in the future (intended length)

• Meaning: Used to express the planned duration of a future action or commitment.
• Example: I will stay in Paris pour two weeks.
  Je resterai à Paris pour deux semaines.

---

✅ 6) en — time needed to complete something

• Meaning: Indicates how long it takes to do something.
• Example: I finish my homework en one hour.
  Je fais mes devoirs en une heure.

---

✅ 7) ça fait … que — like depuis (duration still continuing)

• Meaning: Informal way to talk about how long something has been going on up to now.
• Example: It’s been 8 years that I’ve lived here.
  Ça fait 8 ans que je vis ici.

---

2) Comparative Table : depuis, il y a, pendant, pour, en, ça fait

Expression	Main Meaning	Time Reference	Example
depuis	started in past & still continuing	Present/continuing	since — J’étudie depuis 5 ans
il y a	specific past moment	Past	ago — Je suis arrivé il y a 10 min
pendant	duration (how long)	Past/Present/Future	for — Il a travaillé pendant 3 h
dans	starts in future	Future	in — Il part dans 2 jours
pour	planned duration (future)	Future	for — Je resterai pour 1 semaine
en	time needed to complete	Any	in — Je fais ça en 2 heures
ça fait … que	like depuis (ongoing)	Present/Continuing	It’s been… — Ça fait 6 ans que je chante

---

3) Simple Timeline : depuis, il y a, pendant, pour, en, ça fait

« coming soon »

---

4) Exercises (with links) to make the difference between : depuis, il y a, pendant, pour, en, ça fait

🔗 Lingolia — „il y a / depuis”

➡️ https://francais.lingolia.com/fr/vocabulaire/mots-a-ne-pas-confondre/il-y-a-depuis/exercices

---

🔗 TV5MONDE — Grammar & Exercises

👉 Various FREE French exercises including time expressions (search within):
➡️ https://apprendre.tv5monde.com/fr/collection-all

---

🔗 Wordwall — Time Expressions

➡️ https://wordwall.net/resource/6617327/pour-depuis-il-y-a-pendant
➡️ https://wordwall.net/resource/79484645/expressions-temporelles-depuis-il-y-a-pendant-en-de%25C3%25A0

---

🔗 LearningApps — Fill in the Right Expression

➡️ https://learningapps.org/view11095379

---

🔗 Français Facile — Choose the Correct Answer (depuis, pendant, pour)

👉 Exercice : Choose the correct answer between depuis, pendant and pour
➡️ https://www.francaisfacile.com/exercices/exercice-francais-2/exercice-francais-3798.php