# Ça fait longtemps (qu'on ne s'est pas vus)



## rayake

Comment dit-on "ça fait longtemps" dans le sens: "ça fait longtemps qu'on s'est pas vu" "ça fait longtemps qu'on s'est pas parlez"
Merci d'avance et Joyeux noel à tous!! ^ ^


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## SwissPete

It's been a long time ...


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## rayake

ah et donc si je dis "ça fait longtemps qu'on s'est pas vu" je dirais donc: "it's been a long time we haven't seen" c'est bien ça?


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## SwissPete

It's been a long time we haven't seen each other
It's been a long time since we have seen each other

Also, colloquially: Long time no see.


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## rayake

merci beaucoup!! ^^


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## coconut987

SwissPete said:


> It's been a long time we haven't seen each other
> It's been a long time since we have seen each other
> 
> Also, colloquially: Long time no see.



I realise that this is a very old thread but just in case somebody comes across it, some corrections are necessary:

The first sentence is incorrect. An alternative would be _*we haven’t seen each other for a long time*_. A word like _for_ or _since_ is required to communicate the idea of time having passed since the event; we can’t simply squash the two phrases together. In addition, the phrase that follows the construction _it’s been a long time_ must be positive - otherwise, it will have the opposite of the intended meaning. The above sentence, putting aside the grammatical error, conveys the idea that the two people have been seeing each other constantly for a long time - it has been a long time since they _didn’t _see each other. 

The second proposition makes more sense, but is also incorrect. We would instead say _*it‘s been a long time since we saw each other*_. The present perfect (_we have seen_) simply doesn’t work here. Someone with a better technical knowledge of grammar than I have will no doubt be able to explain exactly why this is the case, but for now here is an interesting and useful thread on a similar subject: it's (been) a long time since + present perfect?  As mentioned here, this is by no means a catastrophic error, but it is an incorrect combination of tenses and sounds clumsy.

_*Long time no see*_ is indeed used frequently. Another possibility would be, simply, *it’s been a long time.* These last two options sound the most natural to me; the first two are somewhat more formal.


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## wildan1

SwissPete said:


> It's been a long time we haven't seen each other
> It's been a long time since we have seen each other





coconut987 said:


> The first sentence is incorrect. An alternative would be _*we haven’t seen each other for a long time*_.
> 
> The second proposition makes more sense, but is also incorrect. ...We would instead say _it‘s been a long time since we saw each other_.



I'm not sure who "we" refers to, but the sentences suggested by SwissPete are commonly used and considered correct in AE, anyway, where simple and compound past tenses are not so strictly separated--at least in standard conversational English. 

The register of the OP's French sentences, _"ça fait longtemps qu'on s'est pas vu" _and _"ça fait longtemps qu'on s'est pas parlé", _clearly reflect that he is searching for ways to express those ideas in an informal, conversational context--and the above sentences do reflect the same register in (American) English.


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## coconut987

I can see how the second could be considered correct - I know it’s at least commonly used - but the first? It just doesn’t make sense (to me). _It’s been a long time we haven’t seen each other _seems incomplete, for want of a better word. However, I stand corrected if, as you say, it’s common in AmE.


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## tartopom

Maybe
It's been ages
It's been a dog's age
It's been yonks


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## Le Gallois bilingue

coconut987 said:


> I can see how the second could be considered correct - I know it’s at least commonly used - but the first? It just doesn’t make sense (to me). _It’s been a long time we haven’t seen each other _seems incomplete, for want of a better word. However, I stand corrected if, as you say, it’s common in AmE.


I agree, we need the _since_ if we’re speaking BritE.


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## coconut987

Le Gallois bilingue said:


> I agree, we need the _since_ if we’re speaking BritE.



What about the issue with the negative phrase (_we haven’t seen each other_)? I just don’t see how this can be correct, even if we add the word _since_. It seems to mean the opposite of what is intended: _it’s been a long time since the last day on which we did not see each other_, which is not what the speaker wants to convey.


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## Le Gallois bilingue

coconut987 said:


> What about the issue with the negative phrase (_we haven’t seen each other_)? I just don’t see how this can be correct, even if we add the word _since_. It seems to mean the opposite of what is intended: _it’s been a long time since the last day on which we did not see each other_, which is not what the speaker wants to convey.


You misunderstand my comment, no doubt badly expressed. The translation _“it’s been a long time since we have seen each other” _makes sense. However(BritE), “it’s been along time we haven’t seen each other” does not.


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## coconut987

Le Gallois bilingue said:


> You misunderstand my comment, no doubt badly expressed. The translation _“it’s been a long time since we have seen each other” _makes sense. However(BritE), “it’s been along time we haven’t seen each other” does not.



Ah, ok, apologies - thank you for clarifying!


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## Wordy McWordface

wildan1 said:


> I'm not sure who "we" refers to, but the sentences suggested by SwissPete are commonly used and considered correct in AE, anyway, where simple and compound past tenses are not so strictly separated--at least in standard conversational English.


Just checking...  Is _'It's been a long time we haven't seen each other' _really acceptable in AmE?


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## misterk

No, it's not.


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## broglet

Turn things around and they become perfectly good English (and perhaps American too?)

"We haven't seen each other for a long time"  or "We haven't seen each other for ages"


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## broglet

tartopom said:


> Maybe
> It's been ages
> It's been a dog's age
> It's been yonks


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## Wordy McWordface

misterk said:


> No, it's not.


Thank you, Misterk.  That's what I presumed.

But I'm still confused by a claim made in post #7. Several UK-based members had pointed out that _It's been a long time we haven't seen each other _is incorrect, but Wildan1 disagreed with them.  Wildan1 quoted these suggestions from #2:

_It's been a long time we haven't seen each other
It's been a long time since we have seen each other_

and said of them  "the sentences suggested by SwissPete are commonly used and considered correct in AE, anyway".

Is this a regional difference, perhaps? Is _It's been a long time we haven't seen each other _perhaps acceptable where SwissPete and Wildan1 live, but not in other parts of the US?


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## rrose17

tartopom said:


> Maybe
> It's been ages
> It's been a dog's age
> It's been yonks


Another BE/AE thing, I guess. The “dog’s age” is a little folksy and I’d say not heard that often.


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## rrose17

Wordy McWordface said:


> Is _It's been a long time we haven't seen each other _perhaps acceptable where SwissPete and Wildan live, but not in other parts of the US?


It’s strange to me, too.


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## le chat noir

What about the "donkey's (y)ears"? I wonder if that's really used (in the UK, at least)?


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## rrose17

I’ve heard that but it’s been a donkey’s age since I last heard it used.


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## coconut987

_Donkey’s years _does exist, at least in the UK, but as rrose17 says it seems quite old-fashioned. Originally it was _donkey’s ears_ from the rhyming slang for _years_, and nothing to do with the fact that donkeys live a long time (although none of you has ever seen a dead donkey ).


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## Wordy McWordface

le chat noir said:


> What about the "donkey's (y)ears"? I wonder if that's really used (in the UK, at least)?


You do hear 'donkey's years' occasionally in the UK.  Mainly from older people, needless to say.


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## broglet

... and I haven't heard a dog's age since God was a boy, if ever.


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## le chat noir

And while we're at it, what about "it's been a month of Sundays since..."?


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## broglet

le chat noir said:


> And while we're at it, what about "it's been a month of Sundays since..."?


It's been aeons since I heard that one


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## coconut987

le chat noir said:


> And while we're at it, what about "it's been a month of Sundays since..."?



Oh that’s a good one - although I think the only person I’ve ever heard say it seriously is my dad (in the context _that would never happen in a month of Sundays_), so I don’t think it’s very common either.


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## coconut987

broglet said:


> ... and I haven't heard a dog's age since God was a boy, if ever.



I don’t think I’ve ever heard it, but I am only 22 so probably not the best person to judge


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## Le Gallois bilingue

Wordy McWordface said:


> You do hear 'donkey's years' occasionally in the UK.  Mainly from older people, needless to say.


Why “needless to say”?


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## Wordy McWordface

Le Gallois bilingue said:


> Why “needless to say”?


I'm agreeing with the two previous posters who said the phrase was outdated.


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