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Old 09-01-2008, 07:16 PM   #27 (permalink)
Blackmail!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ofugur View Post
j'etudie le francais depuis 5 ans
This is the correct sentence. You should use the "present" because you still continue to study french. Should you just have decided to stop it, you would have to use the "passé composé" (= j'ai étudié le français).

The imparfait refers to the description of a lasting effect that occured only in the past. In English, the "imparfait" is usually translated with the past progressive.
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