Using Le Passé Composé or Le Présent in negative sentences with ''depuis''

I would say this:

Je ne suis pas en France depuis longtemps.

Je ne suis pas arrivé en France depuis longtemps.

The former sentence talks about a period which started in the past and continues up until the present time. The second one focuses on the event of the arrival, which has no connection to the present.

Thanks, Chris, but I'm afraid the issue isn't resolved.

The test question regards an action that started in the past and continues up to present time ("have not been in France for long"), so I answered the test question using Présent indicatif as per the lesson yet the Kwiziq system marked my answer as incorrect and indicated the correct answer would be the use of Passé composé.

In other words, unless I'm misunderstanding the whole thing, the lesson says to use Présent indicatif but Kwiziq wants Passé composé.

You look at the French sentence, not the English translation. The French sentence takes about the act of arriving. That happened solely in the past.

A more literal translation would be: Martin hasn't arrived since long ago. Hence the meaning that he hasn't been here long.

Thanks 

Hi Lewis,

I will try and explain further but I can understand your confusion ...

I am not sure what test you are referring to, but have a look at the following examples:

Je n'ai pas mangé depuis trois jours. = I have not eaten for three days. (meaning it is likely to change today)

Je ne mange pas depuis trois jours... = I have not eaten for three days...(meaning it is likely to carry on today and it is maybe worrying you 

On ne se parle pas depuis longtemps. = we have not spoken for ages . (sounds  like you won't do it again, maybe you have had a fall out )

On ne s'est pas parlé depuis longtemps. = We have not spoken in ages. (meaning you need to have a catch-up soon) 

Hope this helps!

Hi Kate,

the correct use of times with depuis can be tricky. Here are the rules in a nutshell.

If stating something that has been happening for a while and still ongoing, you use depuis with the present tense:

J'habite à Paris depuis 5 ans. -- I have been living in Paris for five years (and I still live here).

In negative sentences where the action is already past, you use the passé composé:

Je ne l'ai pas vu depuis son départ. -- I haven't seen him since his departure.

You may use the present tense if you are referring to a (frequently recurring or habitual) action which stopped in the past:

Tu ne fumes plus depuis l'été dernier. -- You don't smoke anymore since last summer.

-- Chris (not a native speaker).

Bonjour CrystalMaiden !

Could you give me a specific case ?

Yes, in cases where the enunciation time is in the past, you will indeed use L'Imparfait instead of Le Présent.

However, your sentence here is not quite right: you cannot use "à cette époque de sa vie", and then talk about something that started before (depuis cinq jours).

You would use either say : 

Il était sans domicile depuis cinq jours.
OR
À cette époque de sa vie, il était sans domicile. 

I hope that's helpful!
Bonne journée !