What's the difference between en and dans for time?

En says how long an action took: il l'a réparé en dix minutes, he fixed it in ten minutes. Dans counts forward from now to when something starts: je pars dans dix minutes, I'm leaving in ten minutes. Both come out as in, so the English sentence gives you no help.

How do you say for in French when talking about time?

It depends on the state of the period. Depuis for something still going on (j'attends depuis une heure), pendant for something finished (j'ai attendu pendant une heure), and pour for a length arranged in advance (je pars pour une semaine).

Why does depuis take the present tense?

Because the situation is still true at the moment of speaking, and French marks that with the present. J'habite ici depuis dix ans is literally I live here since ten years, where English switches to the perfect: I have lived here for ten years.

How do you say on Monday in French?

With nothing in front of it: je te vois lundi. Adding le changes the meaning to every Monday: le lundi, je vais à la piscine. The preposition à is used with times of day, not with days of the week.

When do you use il y a to mean ago?

Put il y a directly in front of a length of time and it means ago: il est parti il y a deux jours, he left two days ago. The verb goes in a past tense, and the phrase can be moved to the front of the sentence for emphasis.

French grammar · Intermediate

French Prepositions of Time: À, En, Dans, Depuis, Pendant, and the Rest

Written by Camille Laurent, Lead French Curriculum Editor · Reviewed May 2026

French prepositions of time answer three different questions: when something happens (à midi, en juillet), how long it lasts (pendant deux heures, depuis trois ans), and where it sits relative to now (dans une semaine, il y a un mois). English collapses several of these into in and for, which is why the French set has to be sorted by question rather than by translation.

Le magasin est ouvert de neuf heures à dix-neuf heures.

The shop is open from nine in the morning until seven in the evening.

What it is

There is no one-to-one map between English and French time prepositions, so translating word by word will fail regularly. What works is sorting by the question being asked. A clock time takes à, a month or a year takes en, a stretch of time that is over takes pendant, a stretch that is still running takes depuis, and a countdown from the present takes dans.

Il est arrivé à huit heures, il est resté pendant deux heures, et il revient dans trois jours. — He arrived at eight, he stayed for two hours, and he's coming back in three days.

How to spot it

Before you choose, decide which of three questions the phrase answers: when, how long, or how far from now. Each question has its own small set of prepositions and they barely overlap.

Le cours commence à quatorze heures. — The class starts at two in the afternoon. (when)
J'ai dormi pendant dix heures. — I slept for ten hours. (how long)
On se voit dans une semaine. — We'll see each other in a week. (how far from now)
Elle travaille ici depuis 2019. — She has been working here since 2019. (still going on)

Several very common time phrases take no preposition at all: ce matin, demain soir, lundi prochain, tous les jours.

Prepositions of Time Quick Reference

Which preposition for which question

Preposition	What it marks	Example
à	a point on the clock	à minuit — at midnight
en	a month, a year, a season, or how long something took	en mars, en 2024 — in March, in 2024
dans	a countdown from now	dans dix minutes — in ten minutes
depuis	a period still running	depuis trois ans — for three years
pendant	a period that is over	pendant l'été — during the summer
pour	a period planned in advance	pour deux jours — for two days
il y a	how long ago	il y a un mois — a month ago
jusqu'à	the end point	jusqu'à vendredi — until Friday

Common Prepositions of Time Examples in French

The same prepositions in ordinary sentences, grouped by the job they do:

Pinning Down a Moment

Le train part à seize heures trente.: The train leaves at four thirty in the afternoon.
On déjeune vers midi.: We have lunch around noon.
Elle est née en 1998.: She was born in 1998.
Il neige rarement en avril.: It rarely snows in April.
Les cours reprennent au printemps.: Classes start again in the spring.

Three seasons take en — en été, en automne, en hiver — but printemps takes au, because it begins with a consonant.

Measuring How Long

Nous avons marché pendant deux heures.: We walked for two hours.
Elle a écrit son mémoire en trois semaines.: She wrote her dissertation in three weeks.
Il vit à Lyon depuis 2015.: He has been living in Lyon since 2015.
Je pars pour un mois.: I'm leaving for a month.

Depuis normally goes with the present tense in French, where English needs a perfect: il vit ici depuis dix ans, he has lived here for ten years.

Counting From Now

Le résultat arrive dans quarante-huit heures.: The result will come in forty-eight hours.
Il a déménagé il y a six mois.: He moved house six months ago.
Dans trois ans, elle aura fini ses études.: In three years she'll have finished her degree.
J'ai eu ce vélo il y a longtemps.: I got this bike a long time ago.

Il y a means ago when it stands in front of a duration, which is a completely separate use from il y a meaning there is.

Boundaries: Before, After, Until

Appelle-moi avant sept heures.: Call me before seven.
On en parlera après la réunion.: We'll talk about it after the meeting.
Le bureau reste ouvert jusqu'à dix-huit heures.: The office stays open until six.
À partir de lundi, je travaille à domicile.: From Monday on, I'm working from home.
Dès son arrivée, préviens-moi.: As soon as he arrives, let me know.

Dès is sharper than à partir de: it insists on the very first moment, with no delay at all.

How French Sorts Time Prepositions

Each of these rules replaces one English word that covers too much ground.

À Pins a Clock Time, En Frames a Period

À goes with an exact moment you could point to on a clock or a calendar of hours. En goes with a wider frame you sit inside: a month, a year, a season, a century.

Il est rentré à minuit, en plein hiver.

He got home at midnight, in the middle of winter.

à = a point, en = a frame.

Dans Counts Forward, En Measures the Work

Both translate as in, and this is the single most productive error in the whole topic. Dans starts from now and counts forward to when something will begin. En ignores the present entirely and reports how much time an action consumed from start to finish.

Je le fais en dix minutes, mais je commence dans une heure.

It takes me ten minutes, but I'm starting in an hour.

dans = from now, en = how long it took.

Depuis for Unfinished, Pendant for Finished

Depuis describes a situation that started in the past and is still true, so French keeps the verb in the present. Pendant describes a closed stretch, so the verb is usually in a past tense. The difference is not the length of time but whether it is over.

J'apprends le français depuis deux ans ; j'ai vécu à Paris pendant six mois.

I've been learning French for two years; I lived in Paris for six months.

Still true → depuis. Over → pendant.

Pour Is a Duration You Intend

Pour before a length of time only works when the duration is planned rather than observed. You use it with verbs of leaving, coming, and booking, where the length is part of the arrangement rather than something that has already happened.

Elle est venue pour trois jours et elle est restée pendant deux semaines.

She came for three days and stayed for two weeks.

Planned length → pour.

Days of the Week: Le for Habits, Nothing for One Occasion

A bare day name refers to one specific occasion, the coming or the most recent one. Adding le turns it into a habit that repeats every week. French never uses a preposition here, which is why the English on has no equivalent.

Le samedi, je fais du sport ; samedi, je vais à Bordeaux.

On Saturdays I play sport; on Saturday I'm going to Bordeaux.

le lundi = every Monday.

Common Mistakes with Prepositions of Time

Incorrect: J'habite ici pendant trois ans. — I've been living here for three years.

Correct: J'habite ici depuis trois ans. — I've been living here for three years.

Pendant closes the period off, so it clashes with a present-tense verb describing something still true. Depuis is the preposition for a stretch of time that has not ended.

Incorrect: J'ai fait mes devoirs dans une heure. — I did my homework in an hour.

Correct: J'ai fait mes devoirs en une heure. — I did my homework in an hour.

Dans measures the gap between now and a future start, so it cannot report how long a finished task took. En is the preposition that measures the work itself.

Incorrect: Je pars sur lundi. — I'm leaving on Monday.

Correct: Je pars lundi. — I'm leaving on Monday.

French has no preposition corresponding to on with a day of the week. The bare day name means the next one; adding le, as in le lundi, would turn it into a weekly habit.

Incorrect: J'ai attendu pour deux heures. — I waited for two hours.

Correct: J'ai attendu pendant deux heures. — I waited for two hours.

Pour only works for a duration decided in advance. Two hours of waiting that actually happened is an observed period, which takes pendant, or no preposition at all.

Duration Words and the Cases With No Preposition

Two areas cause more hesitation than the rest: choosing between the three ways to say for, and knowing when French wants nothing at all.

Depuis, pendant, and pour side by side

All three can translate as for, and they divide the ground by whether the period is running, closed, or planned. Depuis also covers since, in which case it is followed by a date rather than a length.

Il pleut depuis ce matin.: It has been raining since this morning.
Il a plu pendant toute la nuit.: It rained all night long.
Nous louons la maison pour deux semaines.: We're renting the house for two weeks.
Je le connais depuis l'école primaire.: I've known him since primary school.

Pendant can be dropped when a duration follows the verb directly: j'ai dormi dix heures is as natural as j'ai dormi pendant dix heures.

Where French uses no preposition

Time phrases built on ce, prochain, dernier, tout, and the bare day names stand on their own. Putting à or en in front of them is a reliable sign of a translated sentence.

Ce matin, j'ai raté mon bus.: This morning I missed my bus.
On se voit la semaine prochaine.: We're seeing each other next week.
Il est venu jeudi dernier.: He came last Thursday.
Elle court tous les matins.: She runs every morning.

The one that catches English speakers hardest is the day name: on Monday is simply lundi, with nothing in front of it.

Avant and après in front of a verb

Before a noun both are straightforward. Before a verb they diverge: avant needs de plus the infinitive, while après needs the past infinitive, built from avoir or être plus the participle.

Ferme la fenêtre avant de partir.: Close the window before leaving.
Après avoir mangé, il a fait la sieste.: After eating, he had a nap.
Après être rentrée, elle a appelé sa mère.: After getting home, she called her mother.
Réfléchis avant de répondre.: Think before answering.

In après être rentrée the participle agrees with the feminine subject, exactly as it would in a normal être compound tense.

Prepositions of Time FAQs

What's the difference between en and dans for time?: En says how long an action took: il l'a réparé en dix minutes, he fixed it in ten minutes. Dans counts forward from now to when something starts: je pars dans dix minutes, I'm leaving in ten minutes. Both come out as in, so the English sentence gives you no help.
How do you say for in French when talking about time?: It depends on the state of the period. Depuis for something still going on (j'attends depuis une heure), pendant for something finished (j'ai attendu pendant une heure), and pour for a length arranged in advance (je pars pour une semaine).
Why does depuis take the present tense?: Because the situation is still true at the moment of speaking, and French marks that with the present. J'habite ici depuis dix ans is literally I live here since ten years, where English switches to the perfect: I have lived here for ten years.
How do you say on Monday in French?: With nothing in front of it: je te vois lundi. Adding le changes the meaning to every Monday: le lundi, je vais à la piscine. The preposition à is used with times of day, not with days of the week.
When do you use il y a to mean ago?: Put il y a directly in front of a length of time and it means ago: il est parti il y a deux jours, he left two days ago. The verb goes in a past tense, and the phrase can be moved to the front of the sentence for emphasis.