Ne...pas + le présent + depuis longtemps

Question

Nous ne sommes pas arrivés depuis longtemps.
We have not been here for long.
My question is, that since the English translation appears to imply that the action continues into the present, why is the above French sentence in le passé composé and not le présent.
Like the examples: Je ne vis pas en France depuis longtemps.
I have not lived in France for long.
Nous n'habitons pas ici depuis très longtemps.
We haven't lived here very long.
This is my third attempt to get an answer. The previous answers told me to read the lesson. I have read it many times. What am I missing?

Accepted Answer

Bonjour Brian !The case of "arriver" is tricky because you use "to be" in English:Literally, the French sentence means "We haven't arrived for long", referring to the action of arriving, not being there.Therefore, this is not an action that is still ongoing: you have stopped arriving in the past, you don't "keep" arriving.That's why you will use Le Passé Composé here.I hope that's helpful!À bientôt !

Answer

Hi Aurélie,
Could we also write "Nous ne sommes pas là depuis longtemps" as an alternative translation for "We haven't been here for long"? That way we omit the verb arriver altogether.

Answer

Bonjour Steven !
This is a correct alternative, though note that the "arriver" option is very colloquial and therefore worth remembering :)
Bonne journée !