Breakdown of Ça fait deux ans que je travaille ici.
je
I
ici
here
travailler
to work
deux
two
l'an
the year (m)
que
that (introducing a clause)
ça fait
it has been
Questions & Answers about Ça fait deux ans que je travaille ici.
Why is je travaille in the present tense when the English translation says "I have been working"?
In French, if an action started in the past and is still happening right now, you use the present tense. English uses the present perfect continuous ("have been working"), but in French, because you are still working there today, the present tense je travaille is required.
How exactly does the Ça fait... que structure work here?
Literally, it translates to "It makes two years that I work here." It is a very common conversational way to express how long an ongoing action has been happening. The formula is always Ça fait followed by the duration (deux ans), then que, and finally the present tense action (je travaille ici).
The lesson mentions Il y a... que. Can I use that here instead?
I previously learned to use depuis for this. Could I just use that instead?
Is there a required liaison between deux and ans?
Yes. Because ans starts with a vowel, the normally silent "x" at the end of deux comes to life and is pronounced like a "z" to connect the words.
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