Desde indicates the place or point of origin from which something begins or moves. It is used to point out a starting point, not the destination. That is why it appears with verbs of movement, with verbs of perception, and with expressions that describe a relationship between two points. The train leaves from Madrid. I see the beach from the window. From the doorway, the music can be heard. With ideas of origin, desde usually appears alongside a specific place, a city, a house, a building, or a position in space. If you need to express a physical direction in greater detail, it is useful to review Prepositions of Direction.

Uses of origin and starting point

Usage	Explanation
Place of departure	Use desde to indicate the exact place where the movement starts.
Point of observation	Use desde to indicate the site from which you look at or count something.
Reference point	Use desde when an object or an action is taken as the origin of comparison or measurement.
Movement from a place	Use desde to express the starting point of a journey.
Origin of people	Use desde to say where someone comes from in a specific situation.
Origin of a signal	Use desde to indicate the place where a signal, sound or idea is born.
Start of a route	Use desde to mark the first point of a tour.
Source of an action	Use desde to show the origin of something that is sent or launched.

Desde also marks the beginning of an action, state, or situation that continues afterward. The typical structure is desde + starting point + verb in the present or in another tense that shows continuity. I have worked here since January. He has liked trains since he was a child. He has not slept well since last week. The focus is on the beginning; the sentence does not say when it ends. When you want to place that beginning within a broader chronology, Prepositions of Time show other ways to arrange moments precisely.

Temporal uses of start and continuity

Usage	Explanation
Beginning of an action	Use desde to indicate the moment in which an action starts and continues afterward.
Start of a state	Use desde to indicate the beginning of a situation that continues.
Initial point of a habit	Use desde to express when a habit began.
Continuous temporal reference	Use desde when you want to say something lasts without stopping from a clear start.
Start of a rule	Use desde to mark when a rule or agreement comes into effect.
Start of an emotion	Use desde to show the moment when a feeling was born.
Start of a change	Use desde to indicate the moment when something began to change.
Time that remains open	Use desde to say that the period has not ended.

With dates, times, and specific moments, desde places the exact point at which something begins. Since Monday, since May 3, since eight o'clock, since this morning. In Spanish, the date or time is placed directly after desde and functions as the initial limit of the period. He has not come back since Monday. I have been at home since seven. We have lived in another neighborhood since that summer. This construction is very frequent when talking about schedules, changes in routine, and events that remain in effect.

desde el veranodesde la nochedesde las ochodesde hoydesde ayerdesde las seis de la mañanadesde enerodesde el lunes

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Indica que algo empieza a las ocho y sigue a partir de esa horaIndica que algo comenzó el día anterior y aún continúaIndica que algo empezó durante la noche y sigue despuésIndica que algo empieza en el mes de enero y continúa despuésIndica que algo comenzó a esa hora exactaIndica que algo comienza el lunes mencionado y sigue vigenteIndica que algo empezó en la estación del veranoIndica que algo empieza en el día presente

Time expressions with Desde

Word	Definition
desde enero	Indicates that something starts in the month of January and continues afterward.
desde el lunes	Indicates that something begins on the Monday mentioned and remains in effect.
desde las ocho	Indicates that something starts at eight o’clock and continues from that time onward.
desde ayer	Indicates that something began the previous day and still continues.
desde hoy	Indicates that something starts on the present day.
desde la noche	Indicates that something started during the night and continues afterward.
desde las seis de la mañana	Indicates that something began at that exact time.
desde el verano	Indicates that something started during the summer season.

Scramble

Desde hace expresses how much time has passed since something began. Here hace introduces a duration that counts backward from the present or from another reference point. I have lived here for three years. I have not seen him for weeks. He has been studying Spanish for some time. The structure indicates elapsed time, not an exact starting date. That is why desde hace tres años looks at the full duration, whereas desde 2021 fixes a specific point. In contexts involving temporal contrast, this form helps express continuity very naturally.

desde hace un ratodesde hace cinco minutosdesde hace muchodesde hace tiempodesde hace mesesdesde hace añosdesde hace dos díasdesde hace una semana

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Expresa que algo comenzó hace varios meses y todavía duraExpresa que algo empezó hace bastante tiempo y continúaExpresa que algo empezó hace dos días y sigue ahoraExpresa que algo empezó hace una semana y continúaExpresa que algo empezó hace poco tiempo y todavía sigueExpresa que algo comenzó cinco minutos antes y aún no terminaExpresa que algo empezó hace mucho tiempo y sigue igualExpresa que algo empezó en un momento lejano o indefinido

Duration expressions with Desde hace

Word	Definition
desde hace dos días	Expresses that something started two days ago and continues now.
desde hace una semana	Expresses that something started a week ago and continues.
desde hace meses	Expresses that something began several months ago and still lasts.
desde hace años	Expresses that something started a long time ago and remains the same.
desde hace un rato	Expresses that something started a short time ago and still continues.
desde hace tiempo	Expresses that something started at a distant or indefinite moment.
desde hace cinco minutos	Expresses that something began five minutes earlier and still has not ended.
desde hace mucho	Expresses that something started quite a while ago and continues.

Scramble

The pair desde... hasta... marks the initial limit and the final limit of a period. It can be used with time or space. I work from nine until five. The journey goes from Seville to Granada. From January to June covers the entire stretch between two points. Desde opens the period; hasta closes it. When this structure appears, both endpoints are clearly marked, so the complete meaning depends on the two prepositions together. In situations involving routes, schedules, or duration, this combination constantly appears alongside Prepositional Phrases that also organize exact relationships between elements.

desde aquí hasta allídesde la puerta hasta la cocinadesde enero hasta marzodesde el principio hasta el finaldesde la infancia hasta ahoradesde el lunes hasta el viernesdesde la mañana hasta la nochedesde las tres hasta las cinco

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Marca los dos extremos de un recorrido dentro de un lugarMarca la hora de inicio y la hora finalMarca un periodo largo que empieza en el pasado y sigue en el presenteMarca el primer y el último mes de ese tramoMarca los dos límites de una semana laboral o escolarMarca el inicio y el final de un periodo completo del díaMarca el comienzo y el cierre completos de algoMarca un punto de partida y un punto final en el espacio

Expressions with Desde hasta

Word	Definition
desde la mañana hasta la noche	Marks the beginning and the end of a complete period of the day.
desde el lunes hasta el viernes	Marks the two limits of a work or school week.
desde enero hasta marzo	Marks the first and last month of that span.
desde las tres hasta las cinco	Marks the starting time and the ending time.
desde aquí hasta allí	Marks a starting point and an endpoint in space.
desde la puerta hasta la cocina	Marks the two ends of a route within a place.
desde la infancia hasta ahora	Marks a long period that begins in the past and continues into the present.
desde el principio hasta el final	Marks the complete beginning and closing of something.

Scramble

Desde que introduces the fact that marks the beginning of a subsequent situation. After desde que comes an action or an event, and that information functions as the starting point. Since he arrived, everything has changed. Since we started studying together, we understand each other better. He has not called since he left. This structure does not describe only an isolated moment, but rather a fact that initiates something that continues to develop. In Spanish, it is used often to talk about changes, relationships, and states that begin as a result of a previous action. It is a useful foundation for also understanding Subordinating Conjunctions, because here desde que joins two ideas with temporal dependence.

Uses of desde que for prior events

Usage	Explanation
Start after a fact	Use desde que to say something started after a concrete fact.
Continuity of a state	Use desde que to show that a situation remains active from that moment.
Reference to a personal change	Use desde que to indicate the moment a person or habit changed.
lasting effect	Use desde que when the result started earlier and is still noticeable.
Start of a new phase	Use desde que to signal the start of a new phase.
Memory of origin	Use desde que to count when a memorable experience began.
Relation to a previous event	Use desde que when a current fact depends on a past event.
Change of attitude	Use desde que to explain that an attitude began at a concrete moment.

Desde is usually more precise than de when you want to mark origin, beginning, or a starting point. I am coming from Valencia clearly places the origin; I am from Valencia may sound more general. In spoken Spanish, the verb already mentioned is often omitted: When did you arrive? Since yesterday. Since when have you been studying? Since 2020. The word does not change for gender or number, because it is a fixed preposition: from the house, from the houses, from the room, from the rooms. That same form remains unchanged in all contexts, whether it accompanies places, times, durations, or clauses with que

Rules of natural use of desde

Idea
Use desde when you want to be more precise than with de in pointing origin or time.
In rapid speech, desde may go without repeating the verb if the context already makes it clear.
Desde does not change form even if the noun is singular or plural.
Use desde to mark a clear start, not a mere approximate point.
With times and dates, desde locates the start in a concrete way.
With desde que, the verb of the second part usually is in past or present depending on context.
Desde serves for both space and time without changing the basic meaning.
If you want to indicate duration, add a temporal reference like hace or a date.