"pendant" versus "pour"

I did extremely well in French when I studied it, but haven't studied or spoken much French in about 25 years, so I've forgotten a lot. However, when I refer to my French studies, I often will reveal that I studied french for 6 years...but I'm never sure if I should be using pendant or pour:

"J'etudias Français pendant six ans." or "J'etudias Français pour six ans."

Or are both acceptable?

Also, when I plugged this sentence into the translator, it used "j'ai étudié le français pendant six ans." I was correct to use "j'etudias" because it described studying over a period of time, wasn't I?

And is the "le" required in front of "francais"??

Finally, to say, "It's been 25 years since I've spoken French," is this correct:

"C'est depuis vingt-cinq ans que je parle Français."

Thanks in advance for any help.

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Permalink Reply by Pamela Kingfisher on December 27, 2009 at 5:24am

C'est depuis vingt-cinq ans que je parle Français.
It's been 25 years ( it makes 25 years) that I have been speaking French.
This is an action that continues into the present.

j'ai étudié le français pendant six ans.
I studied studied french for 6 years. This is correct, this is how it is said, you don't use "pour."
This is an action that is completed.

Pam

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Permalink Reply by Anna Roscello on December 27, 2009 at 5:33am

Thanks for replying.

But regarding j'étudiais versus j'ai étudié: Shouldn't it be "J'étudiais le français pendant six ans," since I studied every day in the past, as opposed to just once in the past?

And how, then, would I say, "It's been 25 years since I've studied French"? Would it be, "C'est depuis vingt-cinq ans que j'ai étudié français"?

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Permalink Reply by Frank on December 27, 2009 at 3:19pm

As a rule a thumb, "pour" is never used before a point in time nor a length of time in French. The only exception I can think about is the en avoir pour expression (= to take + duration). But in any other case, "for" should probably be either "depuis" or "pendant".

And how, then, would I say, "It's been 25 years since I've studied French"

Ça fait 25 ans que j'ai étudié le français.
or
J'ai étudié le français il y a 25 ans.
(Il y a 25 ans j'ai étudié le français would be correct as well, but more as a way to introduce another phrase than as a complete sentence).

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Permalink Reply by Crack1 on December 27, 2009 at 9:57pm

Pam wrote the following:

C'est depuis vingt-cinq ans que je parle Français.

I have been speaking French since 1985.
The above is fine too.

For me, personally, it should be the present perfect tense.
I studied French in ... WRONG
I have studied French since 1889. CORRECT.
I am still in the process of learning French. Frank helps me to improve my French.
So it is imperative to use the present perfect tense.

When it comes to Spanish and German, I could simply write the simple past tense.
I don't study them at all.
I studied German in 2004. CORRECT
I studied Spanish in 2003. CORRECT

I am learning some Russian thank to the Russian forum.
Though I don't go to a class to study Russian, I learn some grammar aspects thanks to the forum.
I have been studying Russian since 2002. CORRECT
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j'ai étudié le français pendant six ans.
Pam wrote the above.

J'ai étudié français pendant six ans.
I think the article is optional here.
Am I wrong Frank?

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Permalink Reply by Frank on December 27, 2009 at 10:52pm

The article is not optional. It rarely is in French.

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Permalink Reply by Anna Roscello on December 28, 2009 at 12:03am

Well, for me, I haven't been studying French since 1985, so present perfect would not be appropriate for me. It needs to be completely in the past.

Thanks for the clarification on the article.

And does anyone have an answer on "j'etudiais" versus "j'ai étudié"? Of course, it's been a very long time for me, but I thought I remembered that the imperfect tense was used when describing a past act that happened recurrently as opposed to just once. Is that correct? If so, then wouldn't "j'etudiais" be correct, since I studied every day in the past?

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Permalink Reply by Frank on December 28, 2009 at 5:26pm

Hi Anna.

"J'étudiais" and "j'ai étudié" roughly have the same meaning, but the imparfait suggests that the action lasted for a significant time. If you barely learned the French 101, "j'étudiais" can't be used.

On the other hand, the passé composé doesn't suggest any specific duration. It's ok to use it if you only attended one class as well as if you have been studying for years.