# EN: pendant / depuis + indication de temps



## MrNoname

Bonjour,

J'ai un doute concernant la formulation en Anglais de deux type de phrases.

Ce serait du genre,

La première :

- J'ai joué de la guitare pendant 4 ans. (Mais maintenant je n'en fais plus)

Je dirais : I've played guitar (over/for/during ?) 4 years.

La seconde :

- Je joue de la guitare depuis 4 ans. (Donc j'en joue encore)

Je dirais : I've been playing guitar for 4 years now.

La seconde me semble juste mais c'est la première, comme vous pouvez le constater, qui me pose problème. 

Comment exprimer que j'ai pratiqué pendant un certain temps mais que maintenant c'est terminé.

Merci


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## Lizara

For the first one, you should say "I played guitar for four years".  Putting it in the past tense implies that you're no longer doing it.  If you want, you could clarify afterwards that you're no longer doing it, e.g. "I played guitar for four years, but I don't play any more."  

Your second translation sounds fine to me.


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## Wopsy

La première: I played the guitar for four years. (Not *I've* played)
La seconde est bonne. Moi je dirais *the* guitar


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## pieanne

I played the guitar for 4 years


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## MrNoname

Thanks all. In fact, what confused me if sentence like "How long have you lived where you live now ?" which I would translate to the following sentence in French " Combien de temps as-tu vécu là où tu vis ?", which sounds like an approximative way of saying things to me.

-Pendant combien de temps as-tu vécu en France ? (Tu n'y vis plus)
I'd say : How long have you lived in France ?
-Depuis combien de temps vis-tu en France ? (Tu y vis encore)
I'd say : How long have you been living in France ?

Am I correct ?


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## pieanne

MrNoname said:


> Thanks Lizara. In fact, what confused me if sentence like "How long have you lived where you live now ?" which I would translate to the following sentence in French " Combien de temps as-tu vécu la où tu vis ?", which sounds like an approximative way of saying things to me.
> 
> -Pendant combien de temps as-tu vécu en France ? (Tu n'y vis plus)
> I'd say : How long have you lived in France ? how long did you live in France?
> -Depuis combien de temps vis-tu en France ? (Tu y vis encore)
> I'd say : How long have you been living in France ?
> 
> Am I correct ?


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## Wopsy

The word 'have' brings you up to now in English. 'I have (I've) lived in Dublin for 20 years' means I'm still living there.    'I lived in Dublin for 20 years' means I no longer live there.


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## MrNoname

Wopsy said:


> The word 'have' brings you up to now in English. 'I have (I've) lived in Dublin for 20 years' means I'm still living there.    'I lived in Dublin for 20 years' means I no longer live there.


Thanks.
If I understand well, "I have lived in Dublin for 20 years" would mean the same thing as "I've been living in Dublin for 20 years" ? Right ?


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## Wopsy

That's it!


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## MrNoname

Wopsy said:


> That's it!



Ok then, I get it.

Thanks again to all of you.


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## MrNoname

Another question for which a new thread isn't necessary.

How should I say in English : 

"N'ayant pas servi depuis longtemps, il a été difficile de démarrer ma voiture" ? (Elle n'a pas servi pendant un moment mais maintenant cette période est terminée, je m'en sert à nouveau).

However, if I would like to say in English "Ma voiture ne sert pas/plus depuis longtemps", I'd say "My car was not used for 3 years now" ou " My car has not been used in/for 3 years" Correct ?


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## Wopsy

As my car hasn't been in use (or driven) for three years, it was difficult to start.


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## MrNoname

Isn't it a problem to use "has not" in that case ? I mean, wouldn't it mean that my car still hasn't been driven ? The period in which my car wasn't driven is over now.


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## Wopsy

Then you would say 'As my car *hadn't  *been in use .... it was difficult to start.'


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## MrNoname

Well, let's resume. 

Saying "My car hadn't been in use" is not the same as saying "My car hasn't been in use" then ?

The way I understand this :

I should say "My car hadn't been in use/driven for years" if now I'm using it again, so I could add "but yesterday I turned it on and went for a drive". 

The whole sentence : My car hadn't been driven for years but yesterday I turned it on and went for a drive.
I could also say : I did not drive my car for years but yesterday I turned it on and went for a drive.

And if I'm still not using it, I would say "My car hasn't been in use/driven for years now", I could add "it's parked in the garage".

The whole sentence : My car hasn't been driven for years now, it's parked in the garage.
I could also say : I haven't driven my car for years now, it's parked in the garage / I haven't been driving my car for years, it's parked in the garage.

Correct ?

I'm a little bit confused.


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## Outsider

MrNoname said:


> Well, let's resume.
> 
> Saying "My car hadn't been in use" is not the same as saying "My car hasn't been in use" then ?


En fait, ce n'est pas la même chose.



MrNoname said:


> The way I understand this :
> 
> I should say "My car hadn't been in use/driven for years" if now I'm using it again, so I could add "but yesterday I turned it on and went for a drive".
> 
> The whole sentence : My car hadn't been driven for years but yesterday I turned it on and went for a drive.


Ça me semble bien.



MrNoname said:


> I could also say : I did not drive my car for years but yesterday I turned it on and went for a drive.


Celle-ci me semble moins bien.



MrNoname said:


> And if I'm still not using it, I would say "My car hasn't been in use/driven for years now", I could add "it's parked in the garage".
> 
> The whole sentence : My car hasn't been driven for years now, it's parked in the garage.


Correcte.



MrNoname said:


> I could also say : I haven't driven my car for years now, it's parked in the garage / I haven't been driving my car for years, it's parked in the garage.
> 
> Correct ?


Seulement la première version.


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## Tim~!

Outsider said:


> Originally Posted by *MrNoname*
> I could also say : I did not drive my car for years but yesterday I turned it on and went for a drive.
> 
> 
> 
> Celle-ci me semble moins bien.
Click to expand...

Vous avez raison, Outsider 

Comme expression qui se montre toute seule sans aucun lien à un point "présent", on ne se servirait que du passé simple:

"When I was young we didn't have much to eat or drink because we didn't have a lot of money.  When I was pregnant, I didn't drive.  Since I was pregnant very often, I didn't drive a car for years."  ("Since" dans ce cas est "puisque" et pas "depuis"  )  Il n'y a pas de lien avec un point présent; l'action est terminée et est eloignée de maintenant.

Au contraire, "Since I hadn't driven in years, the car refused to start" a un lien avec un présent (mais ce présent est maintenant aussi dans le passé).  J'imagine qu'il ne soit pas facile à (de?) voir ce que je veux dire, alors j'en parlerai plus: "I haven't driven for years and now my car refuses to start."  Tout le monde comprend que j'utilise "haven't driven" parce que l'état qui commença dans le passé dure toujours.  

Maintenant, imaginez que vous racontiez cet évenement à un ami quelques ans après.  Vous devriez mettre la phrase plus loin dans le passé: "I hadn't driven for years, so my car refused to start."  Ce qui était le présent dans le présent est toujours un présent _en ce qui concerne la clause_ "hadn't" dans cette phrase.

Et MrNoname: Ce n'est pas cool de "bump" son propre fil parce que l'on n'a pas encore réçu une réponse, de plus lorsqu'il s'agit de seulement cinq heures


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## tilt

Your explanations are brilliant and sound perfectly clear to me, Tim~!

The relations between past and present are also well explained and illustrated in what I consider as the best tutorial I ever found about the different English tenses: http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/verbtenseintro.html


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## Tim~!

tilt said:


> Your explanations are brilliant and sound perfectly clear to me, Tim~!


Merci beaucoup de votre gentillesse de le dire 

Edit: I've just removed an off-topic question ...


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## MrNoname

Thanks for answering and explaining. Sounds quite clear to me. Sorry for having bumped my thread but I could see it going to the next page, I thought it would have been forgotten and then I could not get answers anymore.

If I want to say that I do not drive my car anymore and I have not tried to drive it for years I'd say for example : My car is parked in the garage, I haven't driven it/It hasn't been in use for years.

I would use "hadn't been driven" instead of "hasn't been driven" to express the fact that now it's over, I'm using my car again.

And finally, if I'm talking about something that happened years ago and is totally over now I would use "did not" : "When I was younger I did not drive my car for years"

Has not = Toujours d'actualité
Had not = Plus d'actualité mais action récente
Did not = Plus d'actualité et action lointaine


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## Tim~!

MrNoname said:


> Thanks for answering and explaining. Sounds quite clear to me. Sorry for having bumped my thread but I could see it going to the next page, I thought it would have been forgotten and then I could not get answers anymore.


You're welcome and don't worry about the bumping.  Things move quickly here, so I always go back several pages and respond to things that still need an answer.

Congratulations on your English, by the way.  It seems very good 



> If I want to say that I do not drive my car anymore and I have not tried to drive it for years I'd say for example : My car is parked in the garage, I haven't driven it/It hasn't been in use for years.


Perfect.



> I would use "hadn't been driven" instead of "hasn't been driven" to express the fact that now it's over, I'm using my car again.


Exactly.  It's further in the past and was true at some point but not any more.



> And finally, if I'm talking about something that happened years ago and is totally over now I would use "did not" : "When I was younger I did not drive my car for years"


Yes, if you're isolating the single action to the past.  For example: The present form "I've lived in Paris for five years" could be "I used to live in Paris for five years" or "I lived in Paris for five years" if you're speaking about it as the past.  

However, if you wanted to say "I've lived in Paris for five years and *now* <something in the present>", the past form would have to be "I'd lived in Paris for five years at the time when I had my car crash" and so on.



> Has not = Toujours d'actualité


Yes.  "I've smoked since I was 16 [and still do]"

However, it's also something more general.  Si vous ne saviez pas si a un point quelconque j'ai joué au football dans ma vie, vous diriez en anglais "Have you [ever] played football/been to Paris/tried a cigarette?"  La réponse serait soit "Yes, I played football when I was younger/once/two weeks ago" lorsque vous avez un temps/une occasion précis(e) en tête, soit "No, I haven't."  (Dans ce cas, le fait de n'y avoir jamais joué est toujours vrai, alors pas de complication.)

Cependant, il y a une troisième possibilité: "Yes, I have [played football, mais je ne donne pas plus de précision temporelle]", voire "No, but I've played golf [à un point quelconque, mais parce que je précise pas, je ne peux pas dire "I played golf]."



> Had not = Plus d'actualité mais action récente


C'est le "have not" que l'on utilise au présent mais mis au passé.   Peu importe que ce soit récent ou pas. 



> Did not = Plus d'actualité et action lointaine


Non.  Une action terminée dans le passé (même court récent) quand il y a un temps entendu.  

"Have you answered my question?"  (à un point quelconque)

"No, I haven't" (jusqu'à maintenant)

"Yes.  I answered it (last week, ten minutes ago)"

J'espère que ça aide un peu.  Désolé si la réponse est un peu fracturée; je suis au travail et ne l'a faite qu'en morceaux


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## MrNoname

Thanks for taking the time to answer, Tim. I appreciate it, that helped me a lot.


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