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So is it with the passé compose or with the present? Confused :(

Bianca S.C1Kwiziq community member

So is it with the passé compose or with the present? Confused :(

So the question was:

How would you say ''You haven't lived here long.'' ?

1. Tu n'as pas habité ici depuis longtemps.

2. Tu n'habites pas ici depuis longtemps.

3. Tu n'habitais pas ici depuis longtemps.

4. Tu ne vas pas habiter ici depuis longtemps.

So the instructions are that with negation depuis is in passe composé, so I picked the answer number 1,  but in results this was wrong as they wanted present - answer number 2. 

What gives?

Asked 2 months ago
Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

In French, with depuis you view the timespan from the end that's closer to the present and let it determine the tense. The timespan of living here is not long but still ongoing in the present (he's still living there now), therefore you use present tense.

If you wanted to say that the person hasn't lived here for long and is presently NOT living here, you'd probably say: Tu n'as pas habité ici longtemps. You wouldn't use depuis in this case.

Using depuis with a past tense means that something isn't continuing in the present anymore:

Il n'a pas plu depuis mardi. -- It hasn't rained since Tuesday. (And it still isn't raining.)

So is it with the passé compose or with the present? Confused :(

So the question was:

How would you say ''You haven't lived here long.'' ?

1. Tu n'as pas habité ici depuis longtemps.

2. Tu n'habites pas ici depuis longtemps.

3. Tu n'habitais pas ici depuis longtemps.

4. Tu ne vas pas habiter ici depuis longtemps.

So the instructions are that with negation depuis is in passe composé, so I picked the answer number 1,  but in results this was wrong as they wanted present - answer number 2. 

What gives?

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