The Preposition desde

The preposition desde marks a starting point — in time, in space, or in a hierarchical range. Its closest English equivalent is since or from, but its range is wider and its uses more structured. Desde pairs naturally with até to draw a complete span: desde A até B, from A to B. It is also a small but critical connector in two everyday constructions: desde que + indicative (meaning ever since) and desde que + subjunctive (meaning provided that). The two look identical on paper; only the verb mood distinguishes them.

This page covers every major use of desde, contrasts it with the lighter-weight de, and clears up the tense mismatch that trips up English speakers the moment they try to say I've lived here since 2020.

Time: since a point in the past

The most common use of desde is to name the moment something began — a point in the past from which an ongoing situation runs forward to the present.

Notice the characteristic Portuguese twist: the verb is in the simple present (conheço, como, temos), not a perfect-tense form. This is the feature that English speakers most often get wrong, and it deserves its own paragraph.

The tense-mismatch trap

English uses the present perfect for since-phrases: I have lived here since 2020, She has worked here since May. Portuguese does not. When the situation began in the past and is still ongoing, Portuguese uses the simple present:

If you translate the English word for word, you produce tenho morado aqui desde 2020 — which is grammatical but has a different meaning (emphasizing a repeated pattern over that period, rather than a continuous state). The standard, neutral form uses the simple present.

This is a general rule worth memorizing: in Portuguese, the simple present covers both I do and I have been doing when the situation is still ongoing.

Typical time expressions with desde

Desde pairs with almost any time reference — a date, an era, a stage of life, an indefinite past.

Note that desde miúdo / desde criança / desde pequeno all do similar work but with different flavors. Miúdo is the most colloquial PT-PT word for kid; criança is more neutral; pequeno/pequena is more universal. All three are natural.

Place: from a starting point

Desde also works for origin in space — the starting point of a journey, a field of view, a distribution — when you want to emphasize the starting end of the span. It often pairs with até to draw the full arc.

Spatially, desde feels heavier than plain de. Compare vim de Lisboa (I came from Lisbon — neutral, just naming origin) with vim desde Lisboa (I came all the way from Lisbon — emphasizing the starting point, often with a sense of distance covered). Both are grammatical; the second sounds more emphatic.

Desde ... até: the full span

Portuguese loves to bracket a range by pairing desde with até — from X to Y. This works for time, space, or hierarchical ranges.

The pairing with até is not obligatory — desde can stand alone when the endpoint is implied ("up to now"). But when you want to name both ends of the range explicitly, desde ... até ... is the natural frame.

Intensifying range

In descriptions of diversity or completeness, desde ... até ... highlights the breadth of a collection by naming its extremes:

The rhetorical effect is you name it, we have it — a hallmark of vivid description.

Desde que + indicative: ever since

When desde introduces a full clause instead of a noun phrase, the connector is desde que. With the indicative mood, desde que keeps its basic time meaning — ever since [the moment that X happened].

Notice again the tense pattern: past perfective in the subordinate clause (me mudei, o conheci, abriu) marking the starting moment, and present indicative in the main clause for the ongoing result.

Desde que + subjunctive: provided that

Here is where Portuguese gets interesting. The exact same string desde que — when followed by the subjunctive — shifts meaning entirely. It no longer means since; it means provided that, as long as, or on the condition that. It introduces a condition.

The contrast is stark: with the indicative, desde que names a time anchor in the past; with the subjunctive, desde que names a condition that must hold for the main clause to be true. English makes this distinction with different words entirely (ever since versus provided that). Portuguese leaves the connector the same and shifts the mood instead.

The subjunctive forms are typically the present subjunctive (venhas, faças, vá) for general conditions, and the imperfect subjunctive for past hypotheticals:

Desde versus de: a matter of weight

Many sentences would be grammatical with either de or desde. The difference is one of emphasis. De is neutral: it simply names the origin. Desde highlights the starting point itself, often with a flavor of all the way from or ever since.

In practice, most time expressions default to desde (desde 2020, desde há cinco anos), while origins default to de (sou de Lisboa, vem do Porto). The exception is the emphatic all the way from meaning, where desde displaces de.

Desde and há: two ways to express duration

Portuguese has two common ways to say for / since X time: desde names a starting point, while há names a duration. They can even combine.

The combined form desde há + [duration] is less common than either individual form, but it is perfectly grammatical and adds a layer of definiteness — ever since [such-and-such a length of time].

When speakers want to ask how long have you been doing X?, the natural question is:

The answer can use either há or desde:

Contractions with desde

Unlike de, em, a, and por, the preposition desde does not contract with articles, demonstratives, or pronouns. It remains a separate word in every construction.

Desde o, desde a, desde aquele — all written as two words. If you find yourself writing desdo or dêsda, stop: these forms do not exist.

Common mistakes

Key takeaways

• Desde marks a starting point in time, space, or range. It typically pairs with até to draw a complete span.
• Use the simple present in Portuguese where English uses the present perfect: moro aqui desde 2020, not tenho morado aqui desde 2020.
• desde que + indicative = ever since (temporal). desde que + subjunctive = provided that, as long as (conditional).
• Desde is heavier and more emphatic than de; both are grammatical for origin, but desde highlights the starting point itself.
• Desde does not contract with articles — always write desde o, desde a, desde aquele as two words.

Next, see how the companion preposition até closes the desde ... até ... frame and handles endpoints.