You have already seen that in affirmative sentences with depuis (= I have done this since/for + [duration]), you must use Présent indicatif in French, unlike the English Present Perfect.
See lesson Using 'depuis' (since / for) with Le Présent and NOT Le Passé Composé (prepositions of time)
But things change when it comes to negative statements (ne...pas) with depuis.
Indeed, in such cases, you will actually use Passé composé in French, as such:
Elle n'est pas allée au cinéma depuis 1998.
She hasn't gone to the cinema since 1998.
Elle ne t'a pas vu depuis trois mois.
She hasn't seen you for three months.
Je n'ai pas fumé depuis novembre dernier.
I haven't smoked since last November.
Tu n'as pas bu d'alcool depuis cinq ans.
You haven't drunk alcohol for five years.
Here we use Passé composé because the use of the negation ne ... pas insists on the fact that the action has stopped happening at the specific time mentioned (since/for) in the past.
If we used Présent indicatif here, it would make it sound like the action "keeps on stopping" during the given length of time.
To say that a (recurring) action has stopped happening in the past with depuis, you can also use Présent indicatif with ne ... plus (not any more) instead of ne ... pas:
Special case of depuis longtemps = not long vs not in a long time
Je ne vis pas en France depuis longtemps.
I haven't been living in France for long.
Je n'ai pas vécu en France depuis longtemps.
I haven't lived in France in a long time.
Il ne m'a pas parlé depuis longtemps.
He hasn't spoken to me in a long time.
Nous n'habitons pas ici depuis très longtemps.
We haven't lived here very long.
OR
Ne...plus + Présent indicatif + depuis longtemps
= not for a long time / not in ages
-> It's over and done in the past
ATTENTION:
-> It started a short while ago, and is still ongoing
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
Il ne m'a pas parlé depuis longtemps.
He hasn't spoken to me in a long time.
Elle n'est pas allée au cinéma depuis 1998.
She hasn't gone to the cinema since 1998.
Nous n'habitons pas ici depuis très longtemps.
We haven't lived here very long.
Je ne vis pas en France depuis longtemps.
I haven't been living in France for long.
Je n'ai pas fumé depuis novembre dernier.
I haven't smoked since last November.
Je ne fume plus depuis 1998.
I haven't smoked since 1998.
Elle ne t'a pas vu depuis trois mois.
She hasn't seen you for three months.
Martin n'est pas arrivé depuis longtemps.
Martin hasn't been here long.
Je n'ai pas vécu en France depuis longtemps.
I haven't lived in France in a long time.
Tu n'as pas bu d'alcool depuis cinq ans.
You haven't drunk alcohol for five years.
Tu ne bois plus d'alcool depuis cinq ans.
You haven't drunk alcohol for five years.
Tu n'es pas allé en Australie depuis quelques années.
You haven't been to Australia for a few years.
Loading your KwizQ&A
Ron
Kwiziq community member
1/10/17
If I am correctly understanding your question: «Comme je ne faisais pas de bruit depuis un moment, maman est venue voir ce qui se passait.» ---> As I was quiet for a while, mother came to see what was going on. Because you indicated that this came from a book, it appears to me that the author was writing descriptive text. Also, the quietness had been going on when the mother came to see what was happening, it had begun prior to her entering the area and was continuing up until she entered. In French this is a normal use of l'imparfait and depuis.
« the action started in the past, but is still ongoing at the time we speak.
In French, you use depuis to express an ongoing duration.»
«Note that L'Imparfait is also used for descriptions, i.e. to help visualise the setting or atmosphere in which an action took place, characters, location, time frame ...
In a similar way, L'Imparfait is also used to express opinions about the past:»
J'espère que ma réponse vous aiderait.
Bonne chance et bonne continuation dans vos études en français, la langue de Molière et qui a été utilisé par le monde français depuis l’époque d’Hugues Capet
abt
Kwiziq community member
9/10/17
Ron
Kwiziq community member
1/10/17
Please clarify your question and resubmit.
abt
Kwiziq community member
9/10/17
Gruff
Kwiziq language super star
17/07/17
harriet
Kwiziq community member
17/07/17
-> It's over and done in the past'
Gruff
Kwiziq language super star
19/07/17
harriet
Kwiziq community member
19/07/17
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
14/07/17
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 !
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
20/12/16
The first one is correct: "We have been here but not for long.".
À bientôt !
Jason
Kwiziq community member
20/12/16
Nous n'avons pas été là depuis 1998 means "We have not been here since 1998; or, we have been absent since 1998". Does "Nous ne sommes pas là depuis trois minutes" mean "we were absent for 3 minutes (but are now here)", or "We have been here, but not not for 3 minutes"? Or is perhaps longtemps a special case?
Thoroughly confused! Thanks for answering our questions!
Kathy
Kwiziq community member
7/05/17
I'm just learning this construction too but thought I'd try and address your question.
To me, the present tense makes sense as "nous ne sommes pas là depuis longtemps" literally translates (in bad English) to "we aren't here since long". Implying we got here not long ago.
I'm certain "depuis longtemps" is a special case, and don't think "Nous ne sommes pas là depuis trois minutes" is correct. The lesson above states that If we used Le Présent with depuis, it would make it sound like the action "keeps on stopping" during the given length of time. We need to use the past tense, or the present but with "ne... plus"
Hope this helps.
Jim
Kwiziq community member
6/12/16
To express "Suzanne hasn't seen him since 2013" you have to think that you are describing a situation in the past which is complete. "Suzanne has not seen him etc" therefore I agree with "Suzanne ne l'a pas vu depuis 2013"
Hope that helps.
Alan
Andrew
Kwiziq community member
2/01/17
What would "Suzanne ne le voit pas depuis 2013" translate as? Or is it meaningless in French?
Thanks for any clarification
Melody
Kwiziq community member
1/02/17
I did find this on another site-
In negative sentences, depending on the meaning, depuis may be used with either the present (action still going on) or the passé composé to indicate how long something has not been going on (non-action).
If that is indeed correct, then I understand why I got the question wrong. But the Kwiz lesson does not make this distinction. And, I have know way of knowing if the explanation from the other site is correct (although in my experience it's extremely reliable- and has been around a lot longer than Kwiziq).
Meghna
Kwiziq community member
4/04/17
Can the powers that be at kwizik pls clarify - I need my diamond score ! And this is one question I keep repeatedly failing at.
Kathy
Kwiziq community member
7/05/17
Elle ne t'a pas vu depuis trois mois.
She hasn't seen you for three months.
Following this lesson, the present tense is only applicable in two cases:
1) using "ne... plus". So, "Suzanne ne le voit PLUS depuis 2013"
2) using "depuis longtemps". But this would change the meaning of this example altogether...
Does that help?
Laura
Kwiziq language super star
30/01/16
That's correct, depuis always indicates a meaning in the past. To talk about "for" in the future, use pendant.
You can use the present of aller, the futur proche, or the future.
Je ne vais pas en Australie pendant quelques années.
Je ne vais pas aller en Australie ...
Je n'irai pas en Australie...
"Tu ne vas pas en Australie depuis quelques années" means that you haven't gone in the last few years; it cannot have a future meaning.
John
Kwiziq community member
2/02/16
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
29/01/16
The tricky issue here is that you can't use the verb "to arrive" the same way as we use "arriver" in French. In this context, you'd rather use "to be" in English, however you need to remember that "arriver" in French is more of a process (i.e. in bad English it would be closer to "Martin hasn't got/arrived there for long").
Therefore, here, the process of "getting there" IS finished in the past, and NOT ongoing in the present: that's why you need to use Le Passé Composé.
FYI, "Martin n'arrive pas depuis longtemps." would give a very weird "Martin hasn't been getting there for long.", giving the impression that he's still in the process of arriving!
I hope that's helpful!
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
1/02/16
Yes, it's an accurate way to see it.
Here is an example for using Le Passé Composé:
"Il n'a pas mangé de viande depuis 4 ans." versus "Il ne mange pas de viande depuis 4 ans."
In the first case, we consider the action of "not eating" as finished in the past (i.e. He hasn't eaten meat for four years.) implying that he could be eating meat NOW, whereas the second sentence insists on the prolongation of the action of "not eating" all through the past up to the present moment (i.e.He hasn't been eating meat for 4 years.), he's STILL not eating meat.
I hope that's helpful!
Nancy
Kwiziq community member
28/10/16
Jason
Kwiziq community member
20/12/16
"Suzanne ne l'a pas vu depuis 2013" vs "Suzanne ne le voit pas depuis 2013" - do both mean "Suzanne hasn't seen him since 2013", but the second implies that she is now or soon going to see him?
Cheers
Jason
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Michael
Kwiziq community member
24 December 2017
2 replies
Instruction manque le "Ne...pas +"
Je pense que cette instruction: "Le Passé Composé + depuis longtemps OR ne...plus + Le Présent + depuis longtemps = not for a long time / not in ages -> It's over and done in the past" manque le "Ne ... Pas + " au début.
Michael
Kwiziq community member
24 December 2017
24/12/17
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
29 December 2017
29/12/17
Indeed, the "ne...pas" was missing here.
Thanks to you, it's now been fixed :)
À bientôt !