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When recounting long-standing disputes in your neighborhood (**le voisinage**), you will often need to explain how long a problem *had been* going on before things escalated.

### Had Been Doing: Imparfait + Depuis

If an action started in the past and was *still continuing* at a later point in the past, English uses "had been doing." In French, you simply use the **imparfait** (imperfect) tense followed by **depuis** (for or since).

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This structure is very common when setting the scene for an interruption or a realization. The ongoing background action uses the *imparfait* with *depuis*, while the interrupting event uses the *passé composé*.

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Just like when using it in the present tense, **depuis** can be followed by a duration (for three days, for months) or a specific starting point in time (since noon).

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### Expressing Annoyance

Neighborhood disputes often involve something being blocked (**boucher**) or someone being bothered (**gêner**). Notice how seamlessly these verbs pair with *depuis* to explain exactly how long a nuisance had been happening before someone finally complained.

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Past ongoing duration (imparfait + depuis)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

contraction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

prep

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Singular 'to be' and indefinite articles (je suis un...)

Singular definite articles (le, la, l')

Identifying vs. describing (c'est vs. il est)

Feminine adjective agreement (+e)

Plural pronouns and 'to be' (nous sommes, vous êtes)

Formal and informal you (tu vs. vous)

Plural nouns and indefinite articles (des... -s)

Plural definite articles (les)

Plural adjective agreement (+s)

Stressed pronouns (moi, toi, lui)

The verb "to have" singular (j'ai, tu as, il a)

The verb "to have" plural (nous avons, vous avez, ils ont)

There is / there are (il y a)

Basic verbal negation (ne... pas)

Negating "there is" (il n'y a pas de)

Regular -er verbs singular (je parle, tu parles, il parle)

Regular -er verbs plural (nous parlons, vous parlez, ils parlent)

The verb "to be called" (s'appeler)

Yes/no questions with intonation (Tu parles ?)

Yes/no questions with "Est-ce que" (Est-ce que tu parles ?)

Informal questions (qui, que, quoi)

Standard questions (est-ce que)

Singular possessives (mon, ton, son)

Plural possessives (notre, votre, leur)

Demonstrative adjectives (ce, cet, cette, ces)

Adjective placement

Numbers 1 to 20

Numbers 21 to 100

Age and physical states (avoir)

The verb to go (aller)

The preposition to/at (à, au, aux)

Question word for location (où)

Prepositions for cities and countries (à, en, au, aux)

The verb to come (venir)

The preposition from/of (de, du, des)

Question word for origin (d'où)

The verb to do/make (faire)

Days of the week (lundi, mardi)

Telling time (il est... heure)

Question words for time (quand, à quelle heure)

The verb to take or have (prendre)

The verb to drink (boire)

Partitive articles (du, de la, de l')

Zero quantity (pas de)

Expressions of quantity (un peu de, beaucoup de)

Asking how much or how many (combien, combien de)

Very vs. a lot (très, beaucoup)

The verb to want (vouloir)

Polite requests (je voudrais)

The verb to be able to (pouvoir)

Obligation (devoir)

General obligation (il faut)

Why and because (pourquoi, parce que)

Expressing purpose (pour)

Reflexive pronouns (me, te, se, nous, vous)

Daily routine verbs (se lever, s'habiller)

Adverbs of frequency (parfois, rarement)

Never (ne... jamais)

Regular -ir verbs (choisir, finir)

Regular -re verbs (attendre, répondre)

Irregular -ir verbs (sortir, partir, dormir)

Informal 'we' (on)

The imperative mood

Direct object pronouns (le, la, les, l')

The near future (aller + infinitive)

The recent past (venir de + infinitive)

The passé composé with avoir

Irregular past participles (eu, été, fait, pris, vu)

The passé composé with être

The negative passé composé (ne ... pas)

Saying goodbye

Please, sorry and thank you

Which / what (quel)

The indefinite adjective (tout, tous)

Irregular feminine adjectives (-euse, -ve)

Double consonant adjectives (-enne, -ette)

Feminine adjective endings (-ère, -trice)

Irregular plurals (-x)

Plurals ending in -al (-aux)

Present tense stem changes (e to è)

Accent stem changes (é to è)

Double consonant verbs (appeler, jeter)

Verbs ending in -yer (payer, envoyer)

Irregular communication verbs (dire, lire)

Irregular action verbs (écrire, mettre)

Question	Answer
the neighborhood (vicinity, surroundings)	le voisinage
The neighborhood problem had been continuing for months.	Le problème de voisinage continuait depuis des mois.
the fence	la clôture
to encroach on	empiéter sur
He had been building the fence for three days when he saw that it was encroaching on the garden.	Il construisait la clôture depuis trois jours quand il a vu qu'elle empiétait sur le jardin.
They had been arguing for weeks because the fence was encroaching on the path.	Ils se disputaient depuis des semaines parce que la clôture empiétait sur le chemin.
the hedge	la haie
to bother (to make uncomfortable, to hinder)	gêner
This tall hedge had been bothering her for a long time.	Cette grande haie la gênait depuis longtemps.
to trim	tailler
The hedge was very tall, but he refused to trim it.	La haie était très haute, mais il refusait de la tailler.
to block (to plug, to clog)	boucher
This wall had been blocking the view for a year, which made the neighbor furious.	Ce mur bouchait la vue depuis un an, ce qui rendait le voisin furieux.
the complaint (legal, grievance)	la plainte
He had been ignoring the neighbor's complaint for months.	Il ignorait la plainte du voisin depuis des mois.
The neighbors were writing a complaint because he had been blocking the passage since noon.	Les voisins rédigeaient une plainte parce qu'il bouchait le passage depuis midi.
the settlement (m)	l'arrangement
We had been looking for a settlement for months.	Nous cherchions un arrangement depuis des mois.
They had been negotiating this settlement for a month.	Ils négociaient cet arrangement depuis un mois.
deliberately	délibérément
He had been deliberately bothering the neighborhood for years.	Il gênait délibérément le voisinage depuis des années.
We had been deliberately pruning the hedge for an hour.	Nous taillions délibérément la haie depuis une heure.