Word
Desde que vive sola, mi prima se ha vuelto más independiente y más segura de sí misma.
Meaning
Since she has been living alone, my cousin has become more independent and more self-assured.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Desde que vive sola, mi prima se ha vuelto más independiente y más segura de sí misma.
mi
my
y
and
de
of
más
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Questions & Answers about Desde que vive sola, mi prima se ha vuelto más independiente y más segura de sí misma.
Why does the sentence start with desde que? What does it mean here?
Desde que means since in a time sense: from the time that.
So Desde que vive sola means Since she has been living alone or Ever since she started living alone.
It introduces the starting point of a situation that has led to a change:
- Desde que vive sola, ... = Since she lives alone / Since she started living alone, ...
A very common learner mistake is to confuse desde and desde que:
- desde
- noun/time expression: desde 2020, desde marzo
- desde que
- verb: desde que vive sola
Why is it vive and not vivió or ha vivido after desde que?
In Spanish, after desde que, the present tense is often used when the situation started in the past and is still true now.
So:
- Desde que vive sola = Since she has been living alone / since she started living alone and still does
Spanish often uses the present where English prefers a present perfect or present perfect continuous.
Compare:
- Desde que trabaja aquí, está más contento. = Since he started working here / Since he has been working here, he is happier.
If the situation were finished, another tense could appear, but here vive shows that she still lives alone now.
Why is it and not ?