To introduce a phrase that describes the length of a period of time in French, use time indicators like il y a(ago) , Ça fait…que, or il y a…que(which both mean “it’s been…that”), or the famous French word voilà:
Voilà trois mois qu’il est parti.
He’s now been gone for three months.
If you are already familiar with prepositions of time in French, here you will learn new time indicators to introduce lengths of time, which tenses they are used with, and common ways of expressing lengths of time in French.
Bonne lecture !
Happy reading!
Il y a is the French equivalent of “ago.” It indicates that you’re discussing how much time has passed between the moment of speaking and when the action occurred. Like “ago,” il y a is used with past events, but unlike “ago,” the phrase il y a goes before the duration of time, rather than after. Il y a usually comes after the verb, but it can also go at the beginning of a sentence.
Il est parti il y a vingt minutes.
He left twenty minutes ago.
Il aurait dû arriver il y a une heure.
He should have been here an hour ago.
Il y a dix ans, j’avais les cheveux rouges.
Ten years ago, I had red hair.
Let’s now have a look at a couple of alternatives to il y a.
Use the time indicators ça fait…que and il y a…que to say how long it’s been since something happened. You should use ça fait…que or il y a…que if you are really focusing on the time that has passed since the action. The simple il y a(ago), which we saw above, keeps the focus on when in time the past action occurred. Notice also that ça fait…que and il y a…queare only used at the beginning of a clauseNo definition set for clauseLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum..
Ça fait / il y a vingt minutes qu’il est parti.
It’s been twenty minutes since he left.
Il est parti il y a vingt minutes.
He left twenty minutes ago.
As you can see above, ça fait…que and il y a…que are preferred when emphasizing the duration of time having passed. However, there are a few different ways to use these time indicators, depending on the tenses you use after que. Let’s take a look.
To talk about the amount of time that passed after a past event ended, use the expressions ça fait…que and il y a…que with past tenses in French. Depending on when in the past an event happened, you will conjugate the verbs of the expressions ça fait…que and il y a…que differently, as well as the verbs in the following clause.
To emphasize the length of time between a past event and now, conjugate the verbs of the expressions il y a…que and ça fait…que in the present tense, followed by the passé composé in the next clause:
Present Tense
(il y a… que, ça fait…que)
passé composé
Il y a dix ans que nous nous sommes mariés.
It has been ten years since we got married.
To emphasize the length of time between two past events, when one happened before the other, use the imperfect tense for the verbs in il y a/ça fait…que, and the plus-que-parfait(pluperfect)in the next clause:
Imperfect Tense
il y avait… que
ça faisait…que
pluperfect
Il y avait dix ans que nous nous étions mariés.
It had been ten years since we had married.
Getting the hang of it? Take a look at a few more examples to fully grasp when to use which past tense:
Imperfect // Pluperfect | Present // Passé Composé |
Ça faisait un an qu’on ne s’était pas vus. It had been a year since we had last seen each other. | Ça fait un an qu’on ne s’est pas vus. It has been a year since we last saw each other. |
Il y avait deux mois qu’ils avaient rompu. It had been two months since they had broken up. | Il y a deux mois qu’ils ont rompu. It has been two months since they broke up. |
“Since” is usually translated with depuis, but if you’d like to say, “It’s been…since I last…,” be careful not to translate the phrase directly:
depuis que + affirmative clause:
❌ Ça fait longtemps depuis que je l’ai vue.
✅ Ça fait longtemps que je ne l’ai pas vue.
I have not seen her in a long time.
To talk about how long an event that is still happening has been going on, use il y a…que and ça fait…que in the present tense, followed by the present tense in the next clause. Here’s the formula:
Present Tense
il y a… que
ça fait…que
present tense
Il y a longtemps que je t’aime.
I’ve loved you for a long time.
Ça fait trois quarts d’heure qu’on attend !
We’ve been waiting for 45 minutes!
Did you notice in the examples above that the English translations use the present perfect tense (“I’ve loved…” and “We’ve been waiting…”)? Even though in English we use a different tense, French uses the present tense to express an action that is still happening (even if it started in the past). For example:
Ça fait cinq jours que je reste ici.
I’ve been staying here for five days.
To talk about the time that will pass before another event, use ça fait…que and il y a…que in the future tense. We use these phrases to talk about the amount of time between a future event and something that will have happened by that future moment. The verb in the following clause can be in the past, present, or a future tense, depending on the context! Here’s the formula:
Tense in the second clause | Example | Note |
|---|---|---|
past tense | Ça fera deux mois qu’on ne s’est pas vus ! | → Here, we focus on how long it will be since our last encounter (which happened two months before). |
present tense | Il y aura deux mois qu’on ne se voit pas ! It will be two months that we have not seen each other. | → We don’t intend to see each other. (and we have not seen each other for two months.) |
future tense | Il y aura deux mois qu’on ne se sera pas vus ! It will be two months since we will have seen each other. | → Here, we imply that we will see each other at some point. A future action will happen two months after a point in the future where we see each other. |
This indicator of time can be used just like ça fait…que and il y a…que. The tense of the verb following voilà determines whether you’re talking about something that happened, something that is still happening, or something that will happen.
Voilà des semaines qu’il pleut.
It’s been raining for weeks.
Voilà des mois qu’il n’est pas sorti !
He’s not gone out in months!
Voilà un an qu’on sera partis.
It’ll be a year since we will have left.
When you don’t know an exact duration of time between two events, you can use an approximate length of time using the time indicators you now know. For example, you can use quelques(a few) or environ(about) before a length of time, or some of the common expressions below:
Expressions of time in French | ||
|---|---|---|
une éternité a lifetime | des lustres years lit. (lit. some five year periods) | un (bon) moment a (long) while |
un bout de temps a long time | un bail a long time lit. (lit. a lease) | une plombe (fam.) an hour |
Ils se sont rencontrés il y a quelques années.
They met a few years ago.
Voilà une éternité que je ne suis pas allé au cinéma.
I’ve not been to the cinema in ages.
Ça fait un bout de temps qu’elles sont parties !
They’ve been gone for a while!
Il y a un bail que nous sommes amis.
We’ve been friends for ages.
The French equivalent of “many years ago” is beaucoup d’années not beaucoup d’ans. However, I’d recommend using longtemps(a long time), which is more idiomatic.
❌ Ça fait beaucoup d’ans que j’habite ici.
Instead say:
✅ Ça fait longtemps que j’habite ici.
I have lived here for many years.
Now, how about you practice talking about lengths of time in the past, present, and future in French with our exercises! Or, review the tense combinations for il y a…que and ça fait…que and their following clauses with our handy chart!
Now that you’ve learned how to discuss lengths of time in French, check out these tips for what to remember!
Il y a goes before the duration of time, but…
Ça fait…que, il y a…que, and voilà…que only go at the beginning of a clause.
And here are the tenses you should use:
To measure the amount of time between... | Tense: start of the time ça fait…que il y a…que | Tense: end of the time (main verb) |
|---|---|---|
a finished past action and a past moment | imperfect | pluperfect |
a finished past action and now | present | passé composé |
the start of an incomplete action and now | present | present |
a past moment or action and a future moment | future | past |
the start of an incomplete action and now | present | |
a future moment and a further future moment | future |
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