Present tense with depuis...form to create past action?

paul b.A1Kwiziq community member

Present tense with depuis...form to create past action?

Why "Mon fils travaille (present tense) comme promeneur de chiens depuis quelques semaines" for has been working? and not "Mon fils a été travaillant comme promeneur de chiens quelques semaines"?

Asked 1 year ago
Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

Yes, the first sentence is correct:

Mon fils travaille comme promeneur de chiens depuis quelques semaines. -- My son has been working as a dog walker for several weeks.

The present tense is used with depuis in many cases where in English you'd use perfect continuous tense. There's a lesson on this:

Using the present tense (Le Présent) - and not the compound past (Le Passé Composé) - in sentences with "depuis" (since/for) in French (French Prepositions of Time)

The construction a été travaillant is a literal translation from English and doesn't work in French at all. As a rule, try not to translate word by word and, instead, train yourself to think in French.

Present tense with depuis...form to create past action?

Why "Mon fils travaille (present tense) comme promeneur de chiens depuis quelques semaines" for has been working? and not "Mon fils a été travaillant comme promeneur de chiens quelques semaines"?

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