German for Ongoing Hobbies: Saying How Long You've Been Doing Something
Learn to say how long you have been doing a hobby in German with seit plus the present tense, and how to add detail and history to simple hobby statements.
By PookieFriends & plans · Yapr Learn
Basic German hobby talk often stops at 'Ich spiele Gitarre' (I play guitar). To sound more natural and to share your story, you need to say how long you have been doing something. German does this with the preposition seit (since/for) plus the present tense, not a perfect tense. This lesson teaches you to build sentences like 'Ich lerne seit zwei Jahren Gitarre' and 'Ich male seit meiner Kindheit', and to ask others about their hobbies in a natural conversation.
By the end, you can…
- say how long I have been doing a hobby using seit plus the present tense.
- ask someone how long they have been doing a hobby and understand their answer.
- add extra detail such as frequency, level, or when I started.
Listen once. Try it slowly. Then say it without looking.
Checking available voices…
Ich lerne seit zwei Jahren Gitarre.
I have been learning guitar for two years.
ikh LER-nuh zite tsvai YAH-ruhn gi-TAH-ruh
Use seit + a time period + present tense for an activity that started in the past and continues now.
Ich male seit meiner Kindheit.
I have been painting since my childhood.
ikh MAH-luh zite MY-nuh KINT-hait
Seit can be followed by a noun phrase in the dative, such as meiner Kindheit (since my childhood).
Wie lange machst du das schon?
How long have you been doing that?
vee LAHNG-uh makhst doo dahs shohn
A natural question to ask about an ongoing hobby. Schon adds the sense of 'up to now'.
Seit wann spielst du Klavier?
Since when have you been playing piano?
zite vahn SHPEELST doo klah-VEER
Seit wann asks for the starting point. The answer can be a time period or a point in time.
Ich mache das seit drei Jahren, aber nur am Wochenende.
I have been doing that for three years, but only on weekends.
ikh MAKH-uh dahs zite dry YAH-ruhn, AH-buh noor ahm VOKH-uhn-en-duh
Add frequency details with aber nur (but only) plus a time expression.
Pronunciation guides are approximate. Slow playback keeps the original pitch.
Make it make sense
Useful pattern
The core pattern is seit + time expression + present tense. German does not use the perfect tense here, even though English uses 'have been doing'. For example: Ich spiele seit fünf Jahren Tennis. (I have been playing tennis for five years.) Ich wohne seit einem Jahr in Berlin. (I have been living in Berlin for a year.) The time expression after seit can be a duration (zwei Jahre, drei Monate) or a starting point (2019, meiner Kindheit). When it is a noun, it takes the dative case: seit einem Jahr, seit meiner Kindheit.
When to use it
Use this pattern whenever an activity or state started in the past and is still true now. It works for hobbies, jobs, living situations, and habits. Examples: Ich lerne seit sechs Monaten Deutsch. (I have been learning German for six months.) Sie arbeitet seit zwei Jahren bei Siemens. (She has been working at Siemens for two years.) To ask a question, use Wie lange...? or Seit wann...? For example: Wie lange spielst du schon Fußball? (How long have you been playing football?) Seit wann lernst du Gitarre? (Since when have you been learning guitar?)
Listen to each line, then take one part and reply out loud.
Was machst du in deiner Freizeit?
What do you do in your free time?vahs MAKHST doo in DY-nuh FRY-tsaitIch male. Ich male seit meiner Kindheit.
I paint. I have been painting since my childhood.ikh MAH-luh. ikh MAH-luh zite MY-nuh KINT-haitSchön! Und wie oft malst du?
Nice! And how often do you paint?shurn! unt vee oft MAHLST dooFast jeden Tag, aber nur eine Stunde.
Almost every day, but only for an hour.fahst YAY-duhn tahk, AH-buh noor AY-nuh SHTOON-duhA little context goes a long way
In German-speaking countries, hobby talk is common in casual conversation, and people often give a concrete time frame rather than just naming the hobby. Using seit with the present tense sounds natural and shows you can talk about duration. In formal contexts, you might hear the same structure with more polite wording, but the grammar stays the same. Vocabulary for certain hobbies varies by region and country — for example, football is Fußball in Germany, while Austria and Switzerland use other terms for some sports — but the seit + present tense pattern itself is standard everywhere.
One thing to watch for
Ich habe seit zwei Jahren Gitarre gelernt.
Try this instead: Use the present tense with seit, not the perfect tense: Ich lerne seit zwei Jahren Gitarre. The perfect tense would suggest the action is finished, which contradicts the ongoing meaning of seit.
Your turn
Try answering out loud before checking a possible answer.
1How would you say 'I have been learning German for three months' in German?
Show a sample answer
Ich lerne seit drei Monaten Deutsch.
Seit + duration (drei Monaten, dative plural) + present tense lerne. The verb comes second in a main clause.
2Ask a friend how long they have been playing piano.
Show a sample answer
Wie lange spielst du schon Klavier?
Wie lange...? with the present tense spielst and schon. Seit wann spielst du Klavier? is also correct but asks for the starting point rather than the duration.
3Translate: 'She has been working here since 2020.'
Show a sample answer
Sie arbeitet seit 2020 hier.
Seit + year + present tense arbeitet. The year 2020 is a point in time, so no preposition change is needed.
Use seit plus the present tense to say how long you have been doing something. Add details like frequency or starting point to make your hobby talk richer and more natural.
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