Since = desde + a point in time (vivo aquí desde 2019). For = desde hace + a duration when the action continues (vivo aquí desde hace cinco años), or hace + duration + que + present. For a finished period, use durante or por with the preterite (viví allí durante un año). Spanish uses the present where English says I have lived.
desde + point · desde hace + duration · hace + duration + que- Desde = 'since'
- Hace / desde hace = 'for'
- Stop confusing since and for
"I've lived here since 2019." "I've lived here for five years." English has two prepositions — since and for — and Spanish has three main ways to cover them: desde, desde hace and hace…que, plus durante and por for finished periods. Since and for in Spanish are not hard once you ask one question: am I giving a starting point, or a length of time?
The other half of the puzzle is the tense. English says "I have lived"; Spanish says vivo, plain present. My students fight this for weeks, then it clicks, and suddenly they sound Spanish. Let me save you those weeks.
The big pictureWhen to use since and for in Spanish
- Since (a point in time) → desde — a date, a day, an event, a moment. Trabajo aquí desde marzo. (I've worked here since March.)
- For (a duration, still ongoing) → desde hace or hace…que — a number of hours, days, years. Trabajo aquí desde hace dos años. = Hace dos años que trabajo aquí. (I've worked here for two years.)
- For (a duration, finished) → durante — the period is over. Trabajé allí durante dos años. (I worked there for two years.)
- For (informal, finished or planned) → por — very common in Latin America. Viví en Lima por un año. (I lived in Lima for a year.) Me voy por una semana. (I'm leaving for a week.)
- Llevar + time — the conversational alternative to "for" with an ongoing action. Llevo dos años trabajando aquí. (I've been working here for two years.)
Here's the tense rule that runs underneath all of it: if the action is still happening, the verb is in the present. Vivo aquí desde 2019 — not he vivido. Spanish sees "I still live here" as a present fact and marks the starting point or duration with the preposition. Only when the period is closed does the verb move to the preterite: Viví aquí durante tres años.
The listSince and for in Spanish: the six expressions
| Expression | English | Followed by | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| desde | since | a point in time (date, day, event) | Estudio español desde enero. — I've studied Spanish since January. |
| desde hace | for (ongoing) | a duration | Estudio español desde hace ocho meses. — I've studied Spanish for eight months. |
| hace … que | for (ongoing), sentence-first | duration + que + present | Hace ocho meses que estudio español. — I've studied Spanish for eight months. |
| llevar + time (+ gerund) | have been …-ing for | a duration | Llevo ocho meses estudiando español. — I've been studying Spanish for eight months. |
| durante | for (finished) | a duration, preterite verb | Estudié español durante un año. — I studied Spanish for a year. |
| por | for (finished or planned, informal) | a duration | Estudié español por un año. — I studied Spanish for a year. |
The first four all take the present tense and mean the action continues. The last two take a completed or future verb and mean the period has a clear end.
A quick test for desde vs desde hace: can you put the phrase on a calendar as a single point? 2019, el lunes, mi cumpleaños, la pandemia — that's desde. Is it a quantity you'd measure with a stopwatch or a counter? Dos horas, tres días, diez años — that's desde hace.
If you're not sure whether to use durante or por for a finished period, use durante. It's correct everywhere, in every register. Por is what you'll hear on the street in Mexico, Colombia or Argentina, and it's fine to copy — but durante never sounds wrong.
In contextExamples in real Spanish
From the classroomCommon mistakes English speakers make
- Using "por" for since. Vivo aquí por 2020 is the most frequent error. "Since" + a point in time is always desde: Vivo aquí desde 2020.
- Using "desde" alone with a duration. Vivo aquí desde cinco años sounds like "since five years" — a Spanish speaker will wait for you to finish. A duration needs hace: desde hace cinco años.
- Present perfect where Spanish wants the present. He trabajado aquí desde 2015 is grammatical but marked. If you still work there: Trabajo aquí desde 2015. Spanish uses the present for a state that started in the past and continues.
- "Desde hace" with a finished period. Viví en España desde hace un año contradicts itself: desde hace says "still going," viví says "over." Closed period → Viví en España durante un año.
- Dropping "que" after hace + duration. Hace dos años vivo aquí is missing the link. Either Hace dos años que vivo aquí, or restructure with desde hace at the end.
Sibling lessonDesde hace vs hace (for vs ago)
The word hace does two opposite jobs, and the difference is one small word. Desde hace + duration = "for" — the action is still going: Vivo aquí desde hace dos años (I've lived here for two years). Hace + duration, alone, with a past verb = "ago" — the action is over: Llegué aquí hace dos años (I arrived here two years ago).
Watch the verb. Present tense + desde hace → for. Preterite + hace → ago. Hace…que + present = "for" (Hace dos años que vivo aquí); hace…que + preterite = "ago" (Hace dos años que llegué — it's been two years since I arrived). Once you're tracking the tense, the little word stops being ambiguous.
This distinction is the engine behind every "how long" question, and I cover the full set of questions and answers in how long in Spanish. For the "I have been doing" structure with llevar and he estado, see the present perfect continuous in Spanish. Desde, hasta and durante appear again with clock times in the Spanish prepositions of time, and everything is collected in my hub on Spanish prepositions.
PracticeQuick quiz: since and for in spanish
Six questions from the lesson. Answer in your head, then open to check.
