Breakdown of Depuis qu'il travaille ici, il est plus heureux.
être
to be
ici
here
travailler
to work
plus
more
heureux
happy (deeply joyful)
depuis que
since (conjunction)
Questions & Answers about Depuis qu'il travaille ici, il est plus heureux.
We are currently learning to use the future tense after time words like quand and dès que. Why doesn't depuis que use the future tense here?
Words like quand (when) and dès que (as soon as) trigger the future tense when you are describing an event that hasn't happened yet. However, depuis que (since) describes an action that has already started and is currently ongoing, so it doesn't point to the future. Instead, it takes the present tense.
Why is travaille in the present tense when the English translation says 'has worked'?
In French, when an action started in the past and is still happening right now, you use depuis or depuis que combined with the present tense. English uses the present perfect ('has worked') or present perfect continuous ('has been working'), which is a very common trap for English speakers learning French!
Could I just say Depuis il travaille ici instead of Depuis qu'il?
How does plus heureux translate to 'happier'?
French doesn't have an equivalent to the English '-er' ending to make adjectives comparative. Instead, you simply put plus (more) before the adjective. So, plus heureux literally translates to 'more happy.'
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