👉 Check our my lesson explaining pour, which students often confuse with pendant! »
Today we’ll have a look at the preposition pendant, which means “during”. Pendant also means “for” in the context of “for” a given amount of time.
pendant – [pɑ̃dɑ̃]
during
Word origin
The Modern French word pendant (during) is the present participle of the verb pendre (to dangle, to hang).
Example sentences
In this first sentence, s’amuser is reflexive verb meaning to have fun or enjoy yourself.
Est-ce que tu t’es amusé pendant les vacances ?
Did you have fun during vacation?
This second example shows how you must use pendant to mean “for” a specified amount of time. It’s a very common mistake for beginners to use pour (for) in this context.
J’ai étudié le chinois pendant trois ans avant d’aller à Taïwan.
I studied Chinese for three years before going to Taiwan.
Here’s another similar sentence. Again, you cannot use pour here. Vécu is the past participle of vivre (to live).
J’ai vécu à Paris pendant deux ans.
I lived in Paris for two years.
For this final example, the conjunction pendant que means “while” or “whilst”.
Je prépare le dessert pendant que tu prépares les hors-d’œuvre.
I preparing the dessert while you’re preparing the appetizer.
Related lessons
References
