If até marks where a span ends, desde marks where it begins. It is the "since / from" word, and it almost always names a starting point that is still connected to the present — the moment a situation began and has kept going ever since. The single most important thing for an English speaker to absorb on this page is what happens to the verb: where English forces a present perfect ("I have lived here since 2010"), Brazilian Portuguese keeps the plain present ("moro aqui desde 2010"). Getting the tense right matters as much as getting the preposition right.
Desde in time: the starting point of a span
Desde answers "since when?" — it pins down the moment a still-ongoing situation started.
Moro aqui desde 2010.
I've lived here since 2010. (note: present tense moro, not a perfect)
Estou esperando desde as oito da manhã.
I've been waiting since eight in the morning.
A gente se conhece desde criança.
We've known each other since we were kids.
Look hard at moro aqui desde 2010. English speakers reflexively reach for tenho morado (the Portuguese present perfect, pretérito perfeito composto) because their own grammar demands "have lived." Resist it. In Brazilian Portuguese, an action that began in the past and continues into the present is normally expressed with the simple present plus desde or há. The Portuguese present perfect (tenho morado) means something different — a repeated or habitual action over a recent stretch — and would distort the meaning here.
Desde in space: point of origin
Less often, desde names a physical starting point — where a stretch of distance begins. In this spatial sense it competes with plain de, and de usually wins in everyday speech. Desde shows up when you want to emphasize the whole extent traversed.
Ela veio andando desde a estação só para me ver.
She walked all the way from the station just to see me.
Dá para ver o mar desde a janela do quarto.
You can see the sea from the bedroom window.
Compare venho de São Paulo ("I come from São Paulo" — origin, identity) with dirigi desde São Paulo ("I drove all the way from São Paulo" — stressing the full distance covered). The plain de states origin; desde dramatizes the span. For "I'm from X," always use de, never desde.
Pairing desde with até: the full span
Desde and até are natural partners — one fixes the start, the other the end. Together they frame an entire stretch of time or space.
A biblioteca abre desde as sete até as onze.
The library is open from seven until eleven.
Trabalhamos juntos desde 2015 até o ano passado.
We worked together from 2015 until last year.
When both endpoints are bounded and finished (as in that second example, ending até o ano passado), the verb goes into a past tense, because the span is now closed. Desde does not force the present; it forces the present only when the situation is still ongoing.
Desde que: two completely different meanings
Add que and desde becomes a conjunction — but it splits into two senses that English keeps apart with different words, and the mood of the verb is what tells them apart.
Temporal "since" → indicative
When desde que means "ever since (the moment that)," it introduces a real, factual starting point. The verb is in the indicative.
Desde que me mudei para o Rio, durmo muito melhor.
Ever since I moved to Rio, I sleep much better. (real event → indicative)
Ele não fala comigo desde que brigamos.
He hasn't spoken to me since we argued.
Conditional "provided that" → subjunctive
When desde que means "as long as / provided that," it introduces a condition — something that must be true for the rest to hold. Because a condition is not a fact but a requirement, the verb goes into the subjunctive.
Você pode usar o carro, desde que devolva com o tanque cheio.
You can use the car, provided you return it with a full tank. (condition → subjunctive)
Eu te empresto o dinheiro, desde que você me pague no fim do mês.
I'll lend you the money, as long as you pay me back at the end of the month.
The split is logical once you see it. Temporal desde que points at something that actually happened (me mudei, brigamos) — facts live in the indicative. Conditional desde que points at something that must come true for the deal to stand (devolva, pague) — requirements and hypotheticals live in the subjunctive. The same two words; the mood disambiguates.
Desde versus de and a partir de
Three expressions cluster around the idea of a starting point. Here is how Brazilians sort them out.
| Expression | Core meaning | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| de | plain origin / start of a range | sou de Belém; de segunda a sexta |
| desde | starting point of a span reaching now | moro aqui desde 2010 |
| a partir de | "starting from / as of" a future or chosen point | a partir de amanhã, novo horário |
A partir de segunda, o restaurante abre mais cedo.
Starting Monday, the restaurant opens earlier. (future cutoff → a partir de)
The key contrast: desde looks backward from now to when something began ("I've done X since then"); a partir de looks forward to a point when something will start ("from then on, X will happen"). Using desde for a future start (desde amanhã) sounds wrong to Brazilian ears — that is a partir de amanhã.
Common Mistakes
❌ Tenho morado aqui desde 2010.
Incorrect for a still-true situation — the perfect distorts the meaning.
✅ Moro aqui desde 2010.
I've lived here since 2010.
❌ Eu sou desde São Paulo.
Incorrect — origin/identity uses de, not desde.
✅ Eu sou de São Paulo.
I'm from São Paulo.
❌ Você pode usar o carro, desde que devolve cheio.
Incorrect — 'provided that' is conditional and takes the subjunctive.
✅ Você pode usar o carro, desde que devolva cheio.
You can use the car, provided you return it full.
❌ Desde amanhã o horário muda.
Incorrect — a future start point uses a partir de, not desde.
✅ A partir de amanhã o horário muda.
Starting tomorrow the schedule changes.
❌ Não falo com ele desde que brigássemos.
Incorrect — temporal 'since' refers to a real past event → indicative.
✅ Não falo com ele desde que brigamos.
I haven't spoken to him since we argued.
Key Takeaways
- Desde marks the start of a span; with a still-ongoing situation it pairs with the simple present, not the perfect: moro aqui desde 2010.
- For origin/identity ("I'm from..."), use plain de; desde in space stresses the full distance covered.
- Desde ... até frames a whole stretch; for plain schedules Brazilians often prefer de ... a.
- Desde que
- indicative = "ever since" (a fact); desde que
- subjunctive = "provided that" (a condition).
- indicative = "ever since" (a fact); desde que
- For a forward-looking start, use a partir de, never desde.
Now practice Portuguese
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Portuguese→Related Topics
- De vs Desde: ChoosingB1 — When origin is a plain source (de) and when it stresses an unbroken span from a starting point up to now (desde) — including de...a versus desde...até.
- Preposition 'Até': Until, Up To, EvenA2 — How 'até' marks a spatial or temporal limit ('up to', 'until') and doubles as the adverb 'even' in Brazilian Portuguese — plus the optional crase in 'até a / até à'.
- Prepositions of TimeA2 — The Brazilian Portuguese system of temporal prepositions — em, a/às, de, por, durante, desde, até, há, daqui a — and the crucial daqui-a (future) vs. há (past) split for measuring distance in time.
- Translating English 'Since' into BRB1 — How Brazilian Portuguese uses 'desde' for 'since', why it pairs with the present tense for ongoing situations, and how it differs from the duration words 'há' and 'faz'.
- Prepositions: OverviewA1 — A map of the Brazilian Portuguese preposition system, the obligatory contractions with articles and pronouns, and why prepositions almost never map one-to-one to English.