Traduire 'depuis', 'il y a' (+ complément de temps) en anglais : grammaire anglaise / définition
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Traduire 'depuis', 'il y a' (+ complément de temps)
Les façons françaises et anglaises d'exprimer la durée ou la date d'une action sont très éloignées. Traduire 'depuis', ou 'il y a' (+ complément de temps) est une difficulté classique pour les francophones.
Il est important de ne jamais chercher à traduire mot à mot le français :
Elle travaille chez Delavigne depuis 3 ans. She has been working at Delavigne for 3 years.
Cela fait trois ans qu'elle travaille chez Delavigne.
Cela fait trois ans qu'elle travaille chez Delavigne.
Alors que le français conjugue le verbe au présent, l'anglais emploie le present perfect à la forme progressive, voire le prétérit.
Deux cas à distinguer :
• L'action n'est pas terminée :
Deux cas à distinguer :
• L'action n'est pas terminée :
| Present Perfect sous la forme progressive | + for pour indiquer depuis combien de temps dure l'action |
| + since pour indiquer le moment où l'action a commencé |
Depuis combien de temps vis-tu à Paris? How long have you been living in Paris? or Since when have you been living in Paris?
Je vis à Paris depuis 3 ans. I have been living in Paris for 3 years.
Je vis à Paris depuis 2001. I have been living in Paris since 2001.
Je vis à Paris depuis 3 ans. I have been living in Paris for 3 years.
Je vis à Paris depuis 2001. I have been living in Paris since 2001.
Lorsque l'action se rapporte à un moment du passé, on emploie le Past Perfect (had au lieu de have) :
Horatio had been working for 3 weeks before he opened his first email. Horatio avait travaillé depuis trois semaines avant d'ouvrir son premier courriel.
• L'action est terminée :
| Preterit | + for pour indiquer la durée de l'action |
| + ago pour indiquer il y a combien de temps elle a commencé |
Hier il a joué au tennis pendant 2 heures. Yesterday he played tennis for 2 hours.
Quand a-t-il joué au tennis? (il y a combien de jours?) How many days ago did he play tennis?
Il a joué au tennis il y a 10 jours. He played tennis 10 days ago.
Quand a-t-il joué au tennis? (il y a combien de jours?) How many days ago did he play tennis?
Il a joué au tennis il y a 10 jours. He played tennis 10 days ago.
Récapitulatif :
| Depuis quand Delavigne fait-il des parfums ? | Since when has Delavigne been making perfumes ? |
| Delavigne fait des parfums depuis 1933. | Delavigne has been making perfumes since 1933. |
| Depuis combien de temps Delavigne fait-il des parfums ? | How long has Delavigne been making perfumes ? |
| Delavigne fait des parfums depuis 70 ans. | Delavigne has been making perfumes for seventy years. |
| Quand Delavigne a-t-il commencé à faire des parfums ? | When did Delavigne start making perfumes ? |
| (ou 'il y a combien d'années ?') | How many years ago did Delavigne start making perfumes ? |
| Delavigne a commencé il y a 70 ans. | Delavigne started seventy years ago. |
Exercice 1
Horatio has been mixing herbs and plants over 50 years, the middle of the 20th century.
Horatio has been mixing herbs and plants for 1 over 50 years, since 2 the middle of the 20th century.
1 for: As a preposition of time, 'for' indicates how long an action has lasted. In this case, 'for' tells us 'how long' Horatio has been mixing plants and herbs.
1 since: 'Since' indicates when an action began. We cannot use it here to indicate 'how long' Horatio has been mixing plants and herbs.
2 since: 'Since' indicates when an action began. It is often directly followed by a date or a time period. It is the best choice here.
2 for: As a preposition of time, 'for' indicates how long an action has lasted, not when it began!
Exercice 2
Bruno has been in love with odors he was a little boy. over 40 years, perfumes have been Bruno's passion.
Bruno has been in love with odors since 1 he was a little boy. For 2 over 40 years, perfumes have been Bruno's passion.
1 since: 'Since' indicates when an action began. It is often followed directly by a date or time (since 1953, since 9 o'clock) or by a clause which expresses the origin of an action (since he learned to read, since she married).
1 for: As a preposition of time, 'for' indicates how long an action has lasted. It can't be used in this sentence.
2 For: The preposition 'for' can be used to indicate a general period of time that is finished or still continuing, or the duration which something lasted. Example: 'For years, for months, for weeks,' etc.
2 Since: Since' is grammatically incorrect here. 'Since' isn't used to describe the duration of time, but rather to indicate when an action began.
Exercice 3
Conjugate the verb below. Be careful: don't forget auxiliaries!
Kevin for hours before he realized he left his driver's license at home.
Kevin for hours before he realized he left his driver's license at home.
Conjugate the verb below. Be careful: don't forget auxiliaries!
Kevin [not done] had been driving for hours before he realized he left his driver's license at home.
Kevin [not done] had been driving for hours before he realized he left his driver's license at home.
had been driving: An action relating to an already past event is conjugated in the past perfect tense, using the 'had been' + 'ing' form.
Exercice 4
Fill in the blanks below with the following words. Words may be used more than once.
for | since | ago
The Delavigne Corporation was founded over seventy years .
Icarus has been sending fan letters to the IRS he was just a child.
Polly had only been working at Delavigne a year before she was promoted to Bruno's Personal Assistant.
According to his mother, Kevin has been a cheapskate his entire life. (A cheapskate: someone who does not like to spend money)
Philip has not seen his mother he left his home town.
for | since | ago
The Delavigne Corporation was founded over seventy years .
Icarus has been sending fan letters to the IRS he was just a child.
Polly had only been working at Delavigne a year before she was promoted to Bruno's Personal Assistant.
According to his mother, Kevin has been a cheapskate his entire life. (A cheapskate: someone who does not like to spend money)
Philip has not seen his mother he left his home town.
Fill in the blanks below with the following words. Words may be used more than once.
for | since | ago
The Delavigne Corporation was founded over seventy years ago 1.
Icarus has been sending fan letters to the IRS since 2 he was just a child.
Polly had only been working at Delavigne for 3 a year before she was promoted to Bruno's Personal Assistant.
According to his mother, Kevin has been a cheapskate for 4 his entire life. (A cheapskate: someone who does not like to spend money)
Philip has not seen his mother since 5 he left his home town.
for | since | ago
The Delavigne Corporation was founded over seventy years ago 1.
Icarus has been sending fan letters to the IRS since 2 he was just a child.
Polly had only been working at Delavigne for 3 a year before she was promoted to Bruno's Personal Assistant.
According to his mother, Kevin has been a cheapskate for 4 his entire life. (A cheapskate: someone who does not like to spend money)
Philip has not seen his mother since 5 he left his home town.
1 ago: The time period 'Twenty years ago' situates an action in the past. In this case, 'ago' tells us that the Delavigne Corporation was 'founded' (or established) twenty years before today.
2 since: 'Since' indicates when an action began. Here it tells us when Icarus began sending letters to the IRS (the government organization in charge of taxes in the US).
3 for: 'For' can be used to situate the first of two past actions. Here it tells us how long Polly had been working for Bruno before she was promoted. We often find the term 'for' used in the same clause with the present perfect (and present perfect continuous) tense.
4 for: 'For' indicates how long an action has lasted. Here it indicates the duration of time that Kevin has been a 'cheapskate' (someone who is reluctant to spend money).
5 since: 'Since' can be used to indicate the origin or point in time at which an action began. Philip hasn't seen his mother SINCE he left his home town. In other words, he last saw his mother before he left his home town.
Exercice 5
Susie to Bruno since I arrived here this morning. I tried to get into his office, but the door is locked. I wonder how long their meeting will last. Yesterday they talked three hours!
Susie has been talking 1 to Bruno since I arrived here this morning. I tried to get into his office, but the door is locked. I wonder how long their meeting will last. Yesterday they talked for 2 three hours!
1 has been talking: This is the best choice here. Because we are speaking about a continuous action which started in the past (this morning), we use the present perfect progressive tense (has been talking). 'Since' tells us that the action is one that has lasted from past to present. Example: I have been running in this marathon since 9 am this morning.
1 is talking: Unlike in many languages, we do not use the present progressive tense (is talking) when talking about past actions that continue in the present.
1 talks: Unlike in many languages, we do not use the present simple tense (talks) when talking about past actions that continue in the present.
1 was talking: 'Was talking' is in the past tense, which is not appropriate when talking about an action that continues into the present.
2 for: This is the best choice here. We use 'for' when describing a specific duration of time. For example: "He lived here for twenty-five years".
2 since: 'Since' is used when we are talking about the origin of when something began. In distinction with 'for', 'since' is usually used with either the present perfect or the present perfect progressive. For example: 'He has lived here since 1970'.
2 ago: 'Ago' is used to indicate when an event occurred in the past. Like with 'for', 'ago' is used in conjunction with the preterit tense. For example: 'He lived here twenty-five years ago'.
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