"I have lived here for ten years." In English that sentence needs the present perfect (have lived), because English uses a past-flavoured tense for anything that started in the past — even when it is still true now. Romanian sees it differently. If you still live here, the living is happening, so the verb stays in the present: Locuiesc aici de zece ani. The preposition de ("for / since") supplies the duration, and the present tense supplies the crucial information that the action is still going on. This single pattern trips up almost every English speaker, because it forces you to override a deep habit: you must use a present tense where English insists on a perfect. This page focuses on that construction; for the wider topic of expressing how long something lasts, see duration and continuation.
The core pattern: present + de + time
The formula is simple: a present-tense verb describing an ongoing action, then de plus a length of time. The present says "still true now"; de measures how long it has been true.
Locuiesc aici de zece ani.
I've lived here for ten years. (and still do)
Te aștept de o oră!
I've been waiting for you for an hour! (and I'm still waiting)
Lucrez la firma asta de trei ani.
I've been working at this company for three years.
Învață germană de șase luni și se descurcă deja bine.
She's been learning German for six months and is already managing well.
Look at the English translations: every one needs have/has + past participle, or the present perfect continuous (have been waiting). Romanian needs none of that machinery — just the everyday present plus de. The logic is airtight once you see it: the action is not finished, so the present is correct; you are merely adding how long it has been the case.
de means both "for" and "since"
The same de covers both a span ("for ten years") and a starting point ("since 2015"). With a duration, de = "for"; with a calendar point, de = "since." The verb stays present in both.
Suntem prieteni de cincisprezece ani.
We've been friends for fifteen years. (de + duration = 'for')
Locuiesc în București din 2015.
I've lived in Bucharest since 2015. (din + a point = 'since')
A useful refinement: before a duration Romanian uses de (de zece ani, de o oră), but before a fixed calendar starting point it often uses din (din 2015, din ianuarie, din copilărie) — din being de + în, literally "from-in." Both pin the present action to a stretch of past time; de answers "how long?" and din answers "since when?"
O cunosc din copilărie.
I've known her since childhood.
Asking the question: de când / de cât timp
To ask how long something has been going on, Romanian uses de cât timp ("for how long") or de când ("since when / how long"). The answer comes back in the same present + de pattern.
De cât timp aștepți?
How long have you been waiting?
Aștept de vreo douăzeci de minute.
I've been waiting for about twenty minutes.
De când nu te-am mai văzut!
It's been so long since I've seen you! (idiomatic greeting)
That last one already hints at the twist that comes next — when the action is negative, the tense changes.
The negative twist: "haven't done X for ages" uses the past
Here is the one place the pattern flips. When you say you have not done something for a stretch of time — "I haven't seen him for ages" — the action you're measuring is not ongoing; it is absent. There is no continuing event to put in the present. So Romanian switches to a past tense (the perfect compus), keeping de for the duration.
Nu l-am văzut de mult.
I haven't seen him in a long time.
Nu am mai fost la mare de doi ani.
I haven't been to the seaside for two years.
Nu ne-am mai auzit de luni de zile.
We haven't been in touch for months.
The contrast is the heart of the lesson. Te aștept de o oră is a positive, ongoing action — the waiting is still happening — so it stays in the present. But Nu l-am văzut de o oră measures a stretch of not seeing, an absence with no live event to host the present, so it takes the past (am văzut, perfect compus). Positive ongoing action → present; negative ("haven't done it for X") → past. The word mai ("any more / since") very often shows up in these negatives.
Why a past tense would be wrong for the ongoing case
If you said Am locuit aici de zece ani (past, "I lived here for ten years"), a Romanian would understand that you used to live here for a ten-year stretch that is now over — you've since moved away. The perfect compus closes the action off. That is exactly the wrong meaning if you still live there. The present, by contrast, leaves the action open and running.
Locuiesc aici de zece ani.
I've lived here for ten years (and still live here now).
Am locuit aici zece ani. (no 'de')
I lived here for ten years (but no longer — the stay is over).
Note the subtle difference in the second: a completed span often drops de entirely (am locuit aici zece ani), because you are no longer measuring "since," just stating a finished duration. The presence of de + present signals "still going"; the past without de signals "done."
Quick contrast table
| Meaning | Romanian | Tense |
|---|---|---|
| Still living here (10 yrs and counting) | Locuiesc aici de zece ani. | present + de |
| Lived here, now moved away | Am locuit aici zece ani. | perfect compus |
| Haven't seen him for ages (still not) | Nu l-am văzut de mult. | perfect compus (negative) |
| Since a fixed date, still true | Locuiesc aici din 2015. | present + din |
Common Mistakes
❌ Am locuit aici de zece ani. (meaning: and I still live here)
Wrong tense for an ongoing situation — the past says you've moved away. Use the present: Locuiesc aici de zece ani.
✅ Locuiesc aici de zece ani.
I've lived here for ten years (and still do).
❌ Am așteptat de o oră. (meaning: and I'm still waiting now)
Wrong — for waiting that's still going on, use the present: Te aștept de o oră.
✅ Te aștept de o oră.
I've been waiting for an hour.
❌ Nu îl văd de mult. (meaning: I haven't seen him in a long time)
Wrong — 'haven't done X for ages' has no ongoing action, so it takes the past: Nu l-am văzut de mult.
✅ Nu l-am văzut de mult.
I haven't seen him in a long time.
❌ Locuiesc aici pentru zece ani.
Wrong preposition — 'for' in the duration-of-an-ongoing-action sense is de, not pentru. (pentru = 'for' a future/intended span)
✅ Locuiesc aici de zece ani.
I've lived here for ten years.
Key Takeaways
- For an action still ongoing, Romanian uses the present + de where English forces the present perfect (continuous): Lucrez aici de trei ani = "I have been working here for three years."
- The action is still true now, so the present is correct; switching to a past tense (am lucrat) would wrongly signal the action is over.
- de = "for" (a span); din = "since" (a fixed starting point) — both keep the verb present.
- Ask with de cât timp / de când; the answer stays present + de.
- The negative "haven't done X for ages" flips to the past (nu l-am văzut de mult), because there is no ongoing action to host the present.
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Start learning Romanian→Related Topics
- Uses of the Present IndicativeA2 — The full range of the Romanian present — ongoing, habitual, general truths, scheduled future, narration — and why there is no continuous tense.
- Expressing Duration and Continuation (mai, încă, tot)B1 — How Romanian says 'still' and 'keep on' with little words rather than a progressive tense — mai (a bit longer/more), încă (still), the continuative tot (tot plouă, a tot întreba), plus a continua să and de + duration.
- The Present Indicative: OverviewA1 — An introduction to the Romanian present indicative — the workhorse tense that covers both 'I work' and 'I am working' and even the near future.
- Time Expressions (acum, îndată, din când în când)A2 — A practical inventory of the time phrases Romanians actually use — now, ago, right away, usually, suddenly, in advance, in an hour — including the trap that acum means 'now' alone but 'ago' with a duration, and that peste flips a phrase into the future.
- Perfect Compus vs ImperfectB1 — How to choose between the perfect compus and the imperfect for the Romanian past — completed events vs background, plus the verbs that change meaning.