Breakdown of L'ascenseur est coincé depuis une heure.
être
to be
l'ascenseur
the elevator
depuis
for
l'heure
the hour
coincé
stuck
Questions & Answers about L'ascenseur est coincé depuis une heure.
Why does French use the present tense in est coincé when English says “has been stuck”?
In French, the present tense with depuis expresses an action or state that began in the past and is still true now. It corresponds to English “has been …”:
Does depuis mean “since” or “for”?
Why not say L’ascenseur a été coincé depuis une heure?
Because a été coincé (passé composé) usually describes a completed state in the past. With depuis you want an ongoing situation up to now, so use the present: est coincé depuis….
If it’s finished, use a past with a duration:
- L’ascenseur a été coincé pendant une heure. (It was stuck for an hour, but not anymore.)
- L’ascenseur est resté coincé une heure. (same idea; pendant is optional here)
How do I say “had been stuck for an hour (when the technician arrived)”?
Use a past reference with depuis:
What’s the difference between coincé, bloqué, and en panne (or hors service)?
- coincé: physically jammed/stuck (doors jammed, car stuck in mud). For elevators, it implies it’s stuck/jammed.
- bloqué: blocked/obstructed; also used for traffic, a blocked mechanism, or being stuck (similar to coincé in many contexts).
- en panne: out of order/broken down (a malfunction), not necessarily physically jammed.
- hors service: out of service (not operating). For an elevator, you can hear: L’ascenseur est coincé/bloqué (stuck) or L’ascenseur est en panne/hors service (not working).
Are there alternative ways to say the same thing as depuis?
How do I ask “How long has the elevator been stuck?”
Can I move depuis une heure to the start of the sentence?
Why is it L’ascenseur and not Le ascenseur?
What gender is ascenseur, and how does coincé agree?
Any quick pronunciation tips for the whole sentence?
Approximate breakdown:
- L’ascenseur: “lah-sahn-SUR” (final r is a French r; the nasal vowel “-san-” is like “sahn” without fully pronouncing the n)
- est: “eh”
- coincé: “kwen-SAY” (the “oin” is a nasal vowel; not exactly “kwen”)
- depuis: “duh-PWEE” (final s silent)
- une: “oon”
- heure: “UHR” (like English “err” + French r) Say it smoothly: “lah-sahn-SUR eh kwen-SAY duh-PWEE oon UHR.”
Can depuis also introduce a starting point like “since noon”?
How do I intensify or approximate the duration?
How do I negate or say “not for an hour yet”?
Is pour or pendant interchangeable with depuis?
No:
- depuis = action/state started earlier and still ongoing now (present reference).
- pendant = duration of a completed or bounded action (often past or planned): Il a été coincé pendant une heure.
- pour = planned/intended duration, often with future/verbs of movement: Nous en avons pour une heure (We’re going to need an hour), Je pars pour une semaine.
Don’t use pour to mean “has been … for” in the present.
AI Language TutorTry it ↗
“How does grammatical gender work in French?”
Every French noun is either masculine or feminine, and this affects the articles and adjectives used with it. "Le" is used with masculine nouns and "la" with feminine ones. Adjectives also change form to match — for example, "petit" (masc.) becomes "petite" (fem.).
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