Time Expressions: depuis, il y a, pendant, dans
கால வெளிப்பாடுகள்: depuis, il y a, pendant, dans
Four small words carve up how French talks about duration, and one of them — depuis — trips up English and Tamil speakers alike by pairing with a tense that feels wrong until you see the logic behind it.
Grammar Comparison
இலக்கண ஒப்பீடு
depuis + PRÉSENT for an action still ongoing
J'habite ici depuis trois ans. (I have been living here for three years — and I still do)
நான் மூன்று வருடங்களாக இங்கே வசிக்கிறேன். (நிகழ்காலம், இன்னும் தொடர்கிறது)
This is the genuine surprise for learners used to English: English marks an ongoing-since-the-past action with a compound past tense ('have been living'), but French simply uses présent, because from the speaker's point of view the action is happening right now, and depuis supplies the 'since/for' information the tense alone doesn't carry. Tamil similarly tends to use a present-tense-flavored form for ongoing states (இங்கே வசிக்கிறேன்), so once you stop translating word-for-word from English's 'have been', the French logic actually lines up with Tamil's instinct better than with English's.
depuis covers both 'since [a point]' and 'for [a duration]'
depuis 2020 (since 2020, a point in time) / depuis trois ans (for three years, a duration)
2020 முதல் (ஒரு புள்ளியிலிருந்து) / மூன்று வருடங்களாக (கால அளவு)
Unlike English, which splits this into two different words (since vs. for), French uses depuis for both — context (a date/event vs. a length of time) tells you which meaning applies. Tamil similarly doesn't force a lexical split here (முதல் vs -ஆக both attach naturally), so this is one case where French and Tamil actually share the same flexible logic, against English's stricter split.
il y a = ago (with a past tense, action is over)
J'ai visité Paris il y a deux ans. (I visited Paris two years ago)
நான் இரண்டு வருடங்களுக்கு முன் பாரிஸைப் பார்வையிட்டேன்.
il y a here means 'ago' and pairs with a completed past tense (passé composé), the mirror opposite of depuis — the action is finished, not ongoing. Don't confuse this il y a with the identical-looking il y a meaning 'there is/are' (il y a un problème) — same words, unrelated meaning, disambiguated entirely by context.
pendant = for/during a bounded stretch (any tense, action is complete or fully framed)
J'ai travaillé pendant huit heures. (I worked for eight hours — a finished, bounded stretch)
நான் எட்டு மணி நேரம் வேலை செய்தேன்.
pendant frames a duration as a complete block, regardless of when it happened — past, present, or future — unlike depuis, which specifically signals an action still in progress relative to now. If you can put a clear end-point on the duration (worked for eight hours, then stopped), pendant is the right choice, not depuis.
dans = in [amount of time from now], future-only
Je reviens dans dix minutes. (I'll be back in ten minutes)
நான் பத்து நிமிடங்களில் திரும்பி வருவேன்.
dans marks how far in the future something will happen, measured from the moment of speaking — it never refers to the past, and it should not be confused with pendant (a duration something lasts) or en (how long something takes to complete, e.g. Je fais ça en dix minutes, 'I do this within/in ten minutes' as a measure of speed).
Vocabulary
சொற்கள்
| French | Pronunciation | Tamil | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| depuis | duh-PWEE | ...முதல் / ...ஆக...mudhal / ...āga | since / for (ongoing) |
| il y a | eel yah | ...க்கு முன்...kku muṉ | ago |
| pendant | pahn-DAHN | ...காலமாக (முடிந்த)...kālamāga (muḍindha) | for/during (bounded duration) |
| dans | dahn | ...இல் (எதிர்காலம்)...il (edhirkālam) | in (future time from now) |
| en (durée de réalisation) | ahn | ...இல் (எடுக்கும் நேரம்)...il (eḍukkum nēram) | within/in (time taken to complete) |