adverbprepositionpreposition

depuis

since · for · from

Ce mot indique le point de départ d’une action ou d’un événement qui continue dans le temps.

Definition & meaning

Depuis is a French preposition and conjunction that marks a starting point in time or space.

Since: It identifies when something began and often implies that it continues in the present.
J’habite ici depuis 2020. — “I’ve lived here since 2020.”
For: With a duration, it describes how long an ongoing situation has lasted.
J’attends depuis deux heures. — “I’ve been waiting for two hours.”
From: It can mark a point of origin or departure.
Le train part depuis la gare centrale. — “The train leaves from the central station.”
Since / seeing that: With a clause, it can introduce a reason.
Depuis que tu es là, tout va mieux. — “Since you’ve been here, everything is better.”

For a completed period in the past, French usually uses pendant rather than depuis: J’ai attendu pendant deux heures means “I waited for two hours.”

Grammar & Word origin

Depuis is invariable: its spelling does not change. It is commonly followed by a date, a length of time, a place, or—when meaning “since”—que plus a clause.

The word is formed from de + puis . Puis comes from Latin postea, meaning “afterwards.”

Synonyms & antonyms

There is no single synonym that works in every use:

à partir de means “starting from.” It emphasizes the starting point and does not usually express an ongoing duration as depuis does.
dès means “as early as” or “from.” It often emphasizes that something happens right at the starting point.
pendant means “during” or “for.” Unlike depuis, it commonly describes a period as a whole, rather than something that began earlier and continues now.
avant (“before”) can be an opposite in time-related contexts.
jusqu’à (“until” or “up to”) marks an endpoint, rather than the starting point expressed by depuis.