English "since" points at a starting moment in the past — a date, an event, a year — and says a situation has held from that moment until now. Brazilian Portuguese expresses this with desde. The sentence Eu moro aqui desde 2010 means "I've lived here since 2010," and just like with há and faz, the verb sits in the present tense, not the compound perfect. This page shows you how desde works, the three kinds of complement it takes, and how it lines up against the duration words you learned on the há / faz page.
'Desde' marks the starting point
The difference between desde and há/faz is the difference between a point and a span. Há/faz answers "for how long?" (há cinco anos — for five years). Desde answers "starting when?" (desde 2010 — since 2010). They describe the same stretch of time from opposite ends.
Eu moro aqui desde 2010.
I've lived here since 2010.
A gente é amigo desde a escola.
We've been friends since school.
Ela trabalha nessa empresa desde janeiro.
She's worked at that company since January.
The verbs moro, é, trabalha are all plain present. As with há/faz, the logic is that the situation is still true right now, so Portuguese treats it as present. English forces the present perfect (have lived, have been), but Portuguese does not — and using the Portuguese compound perfect here is wrong.
The three complements of 'desde'
Desde can attach to three different kinds of thing, and English speakers benefit from seeing them sorted out.
1. A specific date or year
Não como carne desde 2019.
I haven't eaten meat since 2019.
Estou esperando uma resposta desde segunda-feira.
I've been waiting for an answer since Monday.
2. A period or reference point
O preço subiu muito desde o ano passado.
The price has gone up a lot since last year.
Desde criança, eu sempre quis ser médico.
Since childhood, I've always wanted to be a doctor.
3. A full clause — 'desde que' + verb
When "since" introduces a whole event ("since I arrived," "since we moved"), Portuguese uses desde que followed by a verb. The verb after desde que is usually in the preterite, because the event itself was a completed point in the past.
Desde que cheguei, tudo mudou.
Since I arrived, everything has changed.
Desde que nos mudamos para São Paulo, vejo menos a minha família.
Since we moved to São Paulo, I see my family less.
Ele não fala comigo desde que brigamos.
He hasn't spoken to me since we argued.
Note the tense split inside these sentences: the starting event is preterite (cheguei, mudamos, brigamos — a completed point), while the ongoing result is present (vejo, não fala). That mirrors the English perfectly in meaning even though the tenses differ.
Present for ongoing, preterite for completed
Here is the rule that keeps you out of trouble: desde describes the present consequences of a past starting point, so the verb you choose depends on whether the situation is still running.
- Still true now → present tense: Moro aqui desde 2010 (I still live here).
- A completed stretch viewed as finished → preterite: Não saí de casa desde sexta até domingo (a closed window, Friday to Sunday).
Most "since" sentences are the first kind, so the present tense is your default. Only reach for the preterite when the whole stretch is closed off and finished.
Não falo com ela desde o casamento.
I haven't talked to her since the wedding. (ongoing — still not talking)
Desde que aprendi a dirigir, nunca mais peguei ônibus.
Since I learned to drive, I've never taken the bus again.
How 'desde' lines up with 'há' and 'faz'
The two systems describe the same timeline from opposite ends, and you can often swap one for the other. If today is 2025 and you started studying Portuguese in 2022:
- Span (há/faz): Estudo português há três anos. / Faz três anos que estudo português.
- Point (desde): Estudo português desde 2022.
Both are true and both use the present tense. The choice is just whether you want to name the length (três anos) or the starting moment (2022).
Trabalho aqui desde 2020 — ou seja, há cinco anos.
I've worked here since 2020 — that is, for five years.
You can even combine them: desde for the start and a duration phrase for emphasis, as in the example above. They are not in competition; they are two lenses on one stretch of time.
Why English makes this hard
English glues the "since" idea to the present perfect: I have lived here since 2010. The perfect is grammatically required in English. So English speakers instinctively look for a Portuguese compound — tenho morado — and produce tenho morado aqui desde 2010, which is wrong. Portuguese decouples the "since" meaning from any special tense: the meaning lives entirely in desde, and the verb is just present (ongoing) or preterite (finished). Drop the search for a compound and you will be right far more often.
A second wrinkle: English "since" is ambiguous between time ("since 2010") and cause ("since you're here, help me"). Desde only covers the time meaning. For the causal "since" (= because), Portuguese uses já que, como, or uma vez que — never desde.
Já que você está aqui, me ajuda com isso?
Since (= because) you're here, will you help me with this?
Common Mistakes
❌ Eu tenho morado aqui desde 2010.
Incorrect — an ongoing situation with 'desde' takes the present, not the compound perfect.
✅ Eu moro aqui desde 2010.
I've lived here since 2010.
❌ Desde que você está aqui, me ajuda?
Incorrect — this is causal 'since' (= because), which is not 'desde'.
✅ Já que você está aqui, me ajuda?
Since (because) you're here, will you help me?
❌ Não vejo ele desde cinco anos.
Incorrect — 'desde' needs a starting point, not a duration; for a span use 'há/faz'.
✅ Não vejo ele há cinco anos.
I haven't seen him for five years.
❌ Desde que eu chego, tudo mudou.
Incorrect — the starting event after 'desde que' should be preterite ('cheguei'), not present.
✅ Desde que eu cheguei, tudo mudou.
Since I arrived, everything has changed.
❌ Trabalho aqui desde de janeiro.
Incorrect — 'desde' is a single preposition; don't add an extra 'de'.
✅ Trabalho aqui desde janeiro.
I've worked here since January.
Key Takeaways
- Desde = "since" in the time sense: it names the starting point of a situation.
- Ongoing situation → present tense (moro... desde 2010). Never the compound tenho morado.
- Desde que
- a verb introduces a clause; the starting event is usually preterite, the ongoing result present.
- Desde (point) and há/faz (span) describe the same timeline from opposite ends and are often interchangeable.
- Causal "since" (= because) is já que / como / uma vez que, never desde.
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- Pretérito Perfeito for Completed ActionsA1 — The core use of the Brazilian pretérito perfeito for finished, time-bounded past actions — and why English 'I have done' almost always maps to it, not to 'tenho feito'.
- 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.