minjismywife

[reef stream]

Please be patient

Our volunteers look into many questions every day; sometimes it takes them a little while to answer.

Pro tip: you can rename the thread title with `.tr <thread name>`

Make it descriptive, including relevant context, but also to the point. This way you improve your chances of getting a more relevant and specific answer.

[frigid sleet]

"Nous avons prévu le pique-nique pendant longtemps" doesn't sound correct, "pendant" usually implies a duration.
"Nous avons prévu le pique-nique depuis longtemps" or "il y a longtemps" is better

Nous avons prévu le pique-nique pendant longtemps means you spent a long time planning the pique-nique

[torn steeple]

ahh okay understood, thank you!
then would 'pendant and depuis are interchangeable when the verb is in past tense' still stand? or should i try avoid doing that and just use depuis?

[frigid sleet]

I'm not sure they are 100% interchangeable, sometime yes, sometimes no. "depuis" usually means the action still going on while "pendant" refer to a fixed duration with a start/end

"Nous avons préparé le pique nique depuis 1h" -- the pique nique has been prepared 1h ago
"Nous avons préparé le pique nique pendant 1h" -- we spent 1h preparing

"Nous avons préparé le pique nique depuis 1h" can either mean "the pique nique has been prepared 1h ago" or "the pique-nique has been ready since 1pm/1am" (can often lead to confusion when spoken even for natives)

[bold reef]

I think you saw that "pendant" and "durant" are interchangeable?

Depuis and pendant are used differently, pendant and durant are used in essentially the same way (though I'd recommend just using pendant personally)

[torn steeple]

i see i see, thank u !!