English from and since overlap with three useful Catalan patterns. De marks general origin, provenance, source, or separation. Des de selects an explicit point from which a route, view, period, or activity begins. D’ençà de looks back to a temporal onset and presents the later situation as continuing or still relevant now.
These expressions are not interchangeable pieces of vocabulary. They tell the listener how to structure the relationship: simple source, bounded starting point, or a past change that reaches into the present.
A decision table
| Intended relation | Choose | Example |
|---|---|---|
| origin, provenance, material, sender | de | un tren de Figueres; un missatge de l’Aina |
| explicit spatial starting point | des de | caminar des del refugi |
| explicit temporal starting point | des de | obert des de dilluns |
| past onset with continuing relevance | d’ençà de | d’ençà de la reforma |
| finite clause marking the start | des que / d’ençà que | des que hi treballa |
De: origin without a measured starting line
Use de when the important fact is where someone or something comes from. It identifies provenance, sender, source, or point of separation without necessarily asking the listener to trace an interval from that point onward.
Aquest formatge és de la Garrotxa, però l’hem comprat al mercat de Manresa.
This cheese is from La Garrotxa, but we bought it at the market in Manresa.
Acabo de rebre un correu de la coordinadora amb els horaris nous.
I've just received an email from the coordinator with the new schedules.
With motion, venir de, sortir de, tornar de and baixar de name the origin or separation point. De contracts with masculine el/els to del/dels, and elides before a vowel or silent h: de l’aeroport, d’Andorra, d’un hotel.
El darrer autobús surt del poble a dos quarts d’onze.
The last bus leaves the village at half past ten.
The pronoun en can replace many complements introduced by de: Vens de Vic? — Sí, en vinc. For the broader clitic system, see the pronoun en with de-complements.
Des de: make the starting point visible
Des de frames a point as the beginning of a spatial or temporal span. The rest of the route or interval may be stated (des de Sants fins a Badalona) or understood. The second preposition behaves normally before articles and vowels: des del pont, des dels balcons, des de la plaça, des d’ahir.
Des del mirador es veu tota la vall quan el dia és clar.
From the lookout you can see the whole valley when the day is clear.
La botiga està tancada des de dilluns i no reobrirà fins al dia quinze.
The shop has been closed since Monday and won't reopen until the fifteenth.
Compare the minimal pair:
Ve un tren de Portbou.
A train from Portbou is coming. (Portbou is its origin)
El tren circula sense parades des de Portbou.
The train runs without stops from Portbou onward. (Portbou is the starting boundary)
Des de can also identify a standpoint, workplace, communication base, or perspective rather than physical departure.
Avui atendré les consultes des de casa perquè estan reparant el despatx.
Today I'll handle inquiries from home because they're repairing the office.
This does not mean that English from always becomes des de. A message de la directora has her as its source; un missatge enviat des del mòbil de la directora identifies the device or transmission point.
D’ençà de: a past onset that still matters
D’ençà de is temporal. It means “since” or “ever since” and is especially useful when a change at the named moment has consequences that continue to the reference time, commonly the present. It is fully standard but less frequent in casual Central conversation than des de; (formal/literary) prose uses it readily when the continuing link deserves emphasis.
D’ençà de la mudança, l’avi surt a caminar cada matí pel passeig.
Ever since the move, Granddad has gone for a walk along the promenade every morning.
La riera baixa molt més neta d’ençà de la clausura de l’antiga fàbrica.
The stream has run much cleaner since the old factory closed.
The ordinary des de version merely anchors the start; d’ençà de invites the listener to compare “before” and “after.” It therefore sounds odd with a future point that has not occurred. Use a partir de dilluns or des de dilluns for a future schedule, not d’ençà de dilluns when Monday is still ahead.
With a finite clause, de drops: des que and d’ençà que, never des de que or d’ençà de que.
This also blocks a common transfer error: the presence of Spanish desde elsewhere does not license Catalan des de que. Catalan selects the conjunction des que before a finite clause.
D’ençà que teletreballa dos dies per setmana, té més temps per dinar amb els fills.
Ever since she started working from home two days a week, she has had more time to eat lunch with her children.
An alternative pattern places ençà after the starting expression: de llavors ençà, d’aquell dia ençà. It is standard and often written (formal/literary).
Tense, negation, and duration
Catalan commonly uses the present for a situation that began in the past and still holds: Visc aquí des del 2021. English normally requires a present perfect (“I have lived here since 2021”). A perfect tense may be appropriate when the sentence counts experiences or looks back over the interval, but it is not mechanically triggered by des de.
Coneixem la Sílvia des que els nostres fills anaven a l’escola bressol.
We've known Sílvia since our children were at nursery school.
For elapsed duration, Catalan also favors fa + duration + que: Fa quatre anys que hi vivim. Des de fa quatre anys is possible, but copying English since four years as des de quatre anys is not.
Negation changes the measured interval. No l’he vist des de Nadal means the non-seeing extends from Christmas to now; it does not simply negate Christmas as a source. Make contrasts explicit when needed:
No em connecto des de l’oficina, sinó des de l’ordinador de casa.
I don't connect from the office, but from my home computer.
Word order and an embedded constituent
Starting-point phrases can be fronted to establish a frame. A comma is natural when the phrase is long or sets the scene for the whole clause.
Des de la finestra que dona al pati interior, no se sent gaire el trànsit.
From the window that faces the inner courtyard, you can hardly hear the traffic.
Do not strand de as English can. Ask D’on vens? and write la ciutat d’on venim; ask Des de quin ordinador t’hi connectes?, not an order modeled on “Which computer do you connect from?”
A natural dialogue
—Treballes aquí des de fa gaire?
—Have you worked here long?
—Des del setembre. Vaig venir de l’oficina de Girona quan van obrir aquesta seu.
—Since September. I came from the Girona office when they opened this branch.
—I què ha canviat d’ençà del trasllat?
—And what has changed since the move?
—Sobretot el trajecte: ara puc venir a peu.
—Mainly the commute: now I can walk here.
Short correction task
Correct each starting-point expression:
- Visc al barri des de cinc anys.
- Des de que va plegar, no n’hem sabut res.
- La ruta està senyalitzada des l’aparcament fins al coll.
- On has enviat el document des de?
Answers: Fa cinc anys que visc al barri (or hi visc des de fa cinc anys); Des que va plegar; està senyalitzada des de l’aparcament fins al coll; Des d’on has enviat el document?
Common Mistakes
❌ No ens veiem des de tres mesos.
Incorrect—an elapsed duration cannot directly follow des de in this English-like pattern.
✅ Fa tres mesos que no ens veiem.
We haven't seen each other for three months.
❌ Des de que viu a prop, ve més sovint.
Incorrect—before a finite que-clause, use des que without de.
✅ Des que viu a prop, ve més sovint.
Since she has lived nearby, she comes more often.
❌ D’ençà de dilluns que ve, canviarem l’horari.
D’ençà de normally looks back to an onset already reached, not a future schedule.
✅ A partir de dilluns que ve, canviarem l’horari.
Starting next Monday, we'll change the schedule.
❌ Quina ciutat tornes de?
Incorrect English-style preposition stranding.
✅ De quina ciutat tornes?
Which city are you returning from?
Key Takeaways
- De identifies general origin, provenance, source, or separation; des de draws an explicit starting boundary.
- D’ençà de emphasizes that a past onset still has consequences or relevance at the reference time.
- Before a finite clause, use des que or d’ençà que, without the final de.
- For an ongoing duration, prefer fa + duration + que or des de fa + duration, and keep the preposition before questions and relatives.
Now practice Catalan
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