Struggling with this one

Question

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 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 in the past has now stopped happening with depuis, you can also use Présent indicatif with ne ... plus (not any more) instead of ne ... pas:

Tu ne bois plus d'alcool depuis cinq ans.You haven't drunk alcohol for five years.

What is the difference between these two?

Answer

Bonjour Jehan !This is quite a tricky nuance there, I agree :) Here, it's all about the negation you use:- "Tu n'as pas bu d'alcool depuis 5 ans." is insisting on the fact you've not done that during the entirety of that past period (hence Le Passé Composé).- "Tu ne bois plus d'alcool depuis 5 ans." is literally closer to "You're not drinking alcohol any more (and this for the last 5 years)." The main difference here is that using "ne...plus" emphasises the change between the past situation and the new current one, which it highlights, hence Le Présent.I agree that this distinction is worth clarifying in the lesson, and thanks to you, it's now been amended accordingly :)Merci et à bientôt !

Answer

Sorry, it still doesn't make sense. The English translation is still the same in both examples: You haven't drunk alcohol for five years.Does this mean, just use either one?