# FR: (pour / pendant) combien de temps



## nouveau_monde

I'm a beginner and I wanna ask what's the difference between 'pour combien de temps' and 'combien de temps'? This really troubles me. Thanks very much.

*Moderator note: *multiple threads merged to create this one


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## geve

Hello nouveau monde, et bienvenue sur ce forum,

Basically, "pour combien de temps" = for how long
"Combien de temps" = how long

_- Je pars en Chine le mois prochain
- Tu y vas pour combien de temps ?_

_Combien de temps dure le film ?_


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## nouveau_monde

Merci beaucoup.
Still I'm not quite sure. 
Aren't they both related to duration?


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## Fred_C

Hi.
The preposition "pour" never indicates duration. 
Saying "Je pars en chine pour 2 mois", does not mean "I'm off to China during 2 months" (which does not mean anything, anyway), it means "Je pars en chine pour (y rester) deux mois". That is : "I'm off to China to stay there 2 months". Pour indicates a *purpose*.


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## nouveau_monde

But when raising questions, how to determine when to use 'pour combien de temps' or 'combien de temps'?


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## geve

I think that you would be pretty safe if you always used "combien de temps"...


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## Kat LaQ

Hi - here's my idea for you, nouveau:  I think part of the problem is that in English we often drop the "for" before "how long".

We say:  "How long will you be in China?" and "How long is the film?"
But while you could say "How long will you be in China for?",  you can't say " How long is the film for?"
Another way to think about it is from the point of view of the answer:
"How long will you be in China?" *For* 3 months
"How long is the film?" 2 hours. 

If you CAN use the for in English, I think you need it in French.

This is not an official grammarian viewpoint, just what seems logical to me.


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## marget

Is it acceptable(grammatically correct) to omit "pendant" at the beginning of this question? Likewise, if the response is "Deux mois", can pendant be omitted here as well?

Merci d'avance !


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## DearPrudence

Answer from a non-grammarian but just as someone who speaks French: yes  I mean, it's very common but maybe it's not grammatical.

So you'll be very likely to hear:
*"Tu es resté combien de temps en France ?"
"Tu es resté en France combien de temps?"*
*
"Je suis resté deux mois en France." *sounds even better to me than
*"Je suis resté en France pendant deux mois."*

But now let's see what the grammar says


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## gracelandmansion

it is even better to omit "pendant" . 
"Combien de temps es-tu resté en France" is the best form for written french I think.


For speaking french "dear prudence" is right.


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## Charlie Parker

Cette question me turlupine encore. Je ne sais jamais si _pour combien de temps _est correct, d'autant plus que Fred_C dit que cette préposition n'exprime jamais une durée. Cependant, je lis dans mon dictionnaire Larousse : "indique le moment où une chose doit se faire, le terme d'un délai, la durée." Je trouve aussi dans le Robert : "Marquant le terme dans le temps..._Pour six mois _Pendant six mois à partir de maintenant." Pour reprendre l'exemple de geve : 
_- Je pars en Chine le mois prochain.
- Tu travailleras là-bas ?
- Non. J'étudierai.
- Pendant combien de temps y resteras-tu ? 
_Voici mon problème. Dans cette dernière phrase je ne sais pas si _pendant combien de temps, pour combien de temps _ou simplement_ combien de temps _est correct ou bien si tous les trois sont corrects. Quelqu'un peut-il éclairer ma lanterne ?


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## Nicomon

Salut David,

Parmi les multiples utilisations de « pour », on trouve notamment cette définition dans Antidote, sous « lieu et temps » : 





> La durée devant être de. Il est parti aux États-Unis *pour deux semaines*. Il devait être parti là-bas pour deux semaines; malheureusement, une maladie grave l’empêcha de poursuivre son séjour. Ma belle-mère est venue rester chez nous pour toujours.


  Fred_C a utilisé le verbe partir. À cet effet, tu peux consulter la page *Partir* de la BDL : 





> Lorsque _partir_ introduit un complément qui marque la  durée, il se construit avec la préposition _pour_. Dans cet emploi, on  évitera d'utiliser la préposition _pendant_, qui marque une durée, puisque le  verbe _partir _n'indique que la mise en mouvement de l'action.


 Je dirais donc:  _
Tu pars *pour* combien de temps? _ 

Mais je dirais_ :__
Tu comptes y rester (p__endant) combien de temps / (Pendant) combien de temps vas-tu y rester/rester là-bas?    _

Je ne serais pas portée à dire « _pour_ » avec le verbe _rester_ (à part l'exemple « _pour toujours _», d'Antidote). Voir notamment *ce fil* et cet *autre fil* (post #5). 

J'espère que ça aidera un peu... mais attendons que les grammairiens se manifestent, s'il y en a dans la salle.


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## janpol

attends-moi ici, j'en ai pour dix minutes
ayant tué sa belle-mère, il en a pris pour dix ans
tu restes ici (pendant) combien de temps ?


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## gary17

Hello, everyone. I'm a bit confused regarding the usage of combien de temps.
Here are the example sentences in my french learning book:

Tu es restée combien de temps?  Cing jours.
Il est parti pour combien de temps?  Pour deux jours.

What difference does it make with or without pour? 

[…]


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## wildan1

Hello gary17

_…pour combien de temps?_ is equivalent in English to _How long…? _(The answer you quoted is _pour deux jours -- for two days_)

[...]


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## gary17

I don't think you answered my question...maybe my question is not clear enough.
I have edited my question to make it more understandable.
I want to know when pour should or should not be added before combien de temps.


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## LurkingFox

> Il est parti pour combien de temps?  Pour deux jours.



- *If the question is in the present about something that is happening right now* (eg you notice a colleague is missing, someone tells you they're on vacation, and you ask for how long), you have to have "pour combien de temps". (Pretty much the same as in English btw, but I see English isn't your native language). 

- *If the question is in the present about something that is going to happen in the future *(eg you ask your colleague about a planned vacation of his),you can say both, but "pour combien de temps" is more correct as it indicates a "plan", a certain contingency. He's going "for" two days, but who knows what could happen. 

- *If the question is in the present about something that happened in the past*  (eg a colleague just came back from holidays), "pour combien de temps"  or "combien de temps" (in colloquial French) are about equally valid.  You can say both, but "combien de temps" is more correct as the  action is done and there is no contingency. You are asking about a fact. 

Hope this helps
--


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## gary17

So what does "Il est parti pour combien de temps?" exactly mean,
is the person asking how long ago his colleague left, or how long his colleague is going to be absent?
Plus, I remember when pour is used for duration of time, it is only grammatically correct to use it for the future, so the sentence really looks weird to me. " Il va partir pour combien de temps?" and "Il est parti pendant combien de temps" looks more correct, but I'm not sure.


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## OLN

gary17 said:


> So what does "Il est parti pour combien de temps?" exactly mean,
> is the person asking how long ago his colleague left, or how long his colleague is going to be absent?



I believe Wildan and LurkingFox answered your question._

Pour_ _quelle durée_ and _pour combien de temps_ can never mean _how long ago.__***_

"Il est parti pour combien de temps ?"  : _être parti_ (être + p.p. adjectivé) is a state like _be away_.
whereas _Quand est-il parti ?_ is conjugated (passé composé) = When did he leave ?

_Il est parti pour 3 jours_ can describe the current state or be conjugated : He is away for 3 days (Il est absent pendant 3 jours)  or He left at some point and was or is away for 3 days.

*** How long ago did he leave ? = _Il est parti il y a combien de temps ? Quand est-il parti ?_ (passé composé) 
Réponse : _Il est parti* il y a* trois jours _= Three days *ago*
_Depuis quand est-il absent ? _(state)_  Depuis 3 jours._




gary17 said:


> Plus, I remember when pour is used for duration of time, it is only grammatically correct to use it for the future, so the sentence really looks weird to me. " Il va partir pour combien de temps?" and "Il est parti pendant combien de temps" looks more correct, but I'm not sure.


- " Il va partir pour combien de temps ?" 
_Il va partir_ means he is about to leave, so it's like asking for how long he intends to be or will be away.

- "Il est parti pendant combien de temps ?" is for me incorrect because it sounds like the passé composé of _partir_. It would be a strange question to ask since you cannot take more than a few seconds to actually leave.
→ _Il est absent *pendant* or *pour* combien de temps ?_


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## LurkingFox

*> Il est parti pour** combien de temps? *
can mean, depending on the context, both 
 - "How long was he been gone for" (in which case "est parti" is passé composé, and he has gone and come back, you're just inquiring about the duration)
- "How long is he going to be gone for?" (in which case "est" is in the presnt tense and "parti" is simply the participe of the verb "partir" and using this in the present tense indicates uncertainty about the future - because he is gone NOW so you want to know how long this is going to be the case). 

In any case, this sentence is, French being what it is, necessarily ambiguous. That is why unless the context was self-explanatory, real-life French speakers would probably phrase it differently to be sure they get the information they're after: 

*> Il est parti pendant combien de temps?*
Can only mean "How long was he been gone for". The action is over, the duration is known. 

*> Il est parti depuis combien de temps?*
Can only mean "How long has he been gone for?" He is gone NOW, when he is going to come back isn't necessarily known but when he LEFT is a known fact. 

[...]

*> Spoken French: Il sera pas là pendant combien de temps?" / "Il va pas être là pour combien de temps?"*
"How long will he not be there?" *Warning:* This is colloquial, spoken French only. Not very grammatically sound, but the only way I can think of to ask, without any ambiguity, ""How long is he going to be gone for?". Obviously this should only be taken as an indication and answer to this specific thread, since the phrasing is very specific to this situation, and therefore cannot be used for any other sentences asking about unknown duration. 

Does that answer your question?


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## gary17

(Wow... I really am delving into something complicated here!!)
Here's my understanding: 
Il est parti il y a combien de temps (passé composé, specifying the moment of _partir_)= Il est parti depuis combien de temps (present tense, describing a state of being _parti_)
Is that correct?


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## LurkingFox

The overall meaning is the same yes, although if you want to get precise there's a tiny subtle difference
Il est parti il y a combien de temps : asks more about the moment they left (lit. when was the moment they left)
Il est parti depuis combien de temps : asks more about the duration of their absence (lit. how long has he been gone for?)


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## gary17

And back to the other sentence: Tu es restée combien de temps?
I suppose it means" How long did you stay?", implying that this staying event is over, so it wouldn't hurt adding pendant
---> Tu es restée pendant combien de temps?


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