5 - tenses rules

depuis with present

consequences of the past event continue into the present

depuis with past tense

consequences do not continue into the present

depuis with imperfect

consequences of the more distant event continue to the recent event in the past

depuis with pluperfect

consequences of the more distant event do not continue to the more recent event

pendant

length of time associated with an event

can be any tense

pour

intended length of time in future

used with aller/venir/partir

time phrase + subordinate clause

tense in time phrase = tense in main clause

perfect/pluperfect in English = future perfect/conditional perfect in French

time phrases

• when

• as soon as

• once

• after

• as long as

• quand/lorsque

• dès que/aussitôt que

• une fois que

• après que

• tant que

avant vs après in future perfect

avant de + infinitive

après avoir + past participle

if a sentence is introduced by perfect tense…

the main clause is imperfect

time conjunction + future

if English is present = French is future

if English is perfect = French is future perfect