# FR: haven't seen / didn't see her for 10 years



## verbivore

Je voudrais bien traduire les suivants :

1. I haven't seen her for ten years.  (implies you still haven't seen her)
2. I didn't see her for ten years.   (implies you just saw her)

Mes essais : 

1.Je ne l'ai pas vue depuis dix ans./Ça fait dix ans que je ne l'ai pas vue.
2.Je ne l'ai pas vue (pendant) dix ans.   ?

Merci


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## Avignonais

verbivore,
The second English sentence does imply that you have seen her, but not necessary that you JUST saw her.
Consider this:
I didn't see her for ten years. Then, suddenly, in 1998, she called me up out of the blue.

So, it could translate to: Je ne l'ai pas vue pendant dix ans OR je ne l'avais pas vue pendant 10 ans


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## verbivore

Yeah you're right, but when I wrote it, I was thinking in the that time frame. Thanks for your help.

Can someone confirm whether the _pendant _is required. My grammar book says it's not required when followed by a number. Yet, it sounds rather awkward to delete it.  Thanks.


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## Punky Zoé

verbivore said:


> Je voudrais bien traduire les suivants :
> 1. I haven't seen her for ten years.  (implies you still haven't seen her)
> 2. I didn't see her for ten years.   (implies you just saw her)
> 
> Mes essais :
> 1.Je ne l'ai pas vue depuis dix ans./Ça fait dix ans que je ne l'ai pas vue.
> 2.Je ne l'ai pas vue (pendant) dix ans.   ? cela faisait dix ans que je ne l'avais pas vu. (jusqu'au moment où je l'ai revue)
> Merci


About pendant : it is mandatory in your sentence (je ne l'ai pas vue dix ans isn't correct).
My try to explain it (?) : when you talk about a continuous action you may omit pendant in some phrase, ex. j'ai fait dix ans de piano (= j'ai fait/joué du piano pendant dix ans), j'ai habité dix ans  à Paris . But you can't say you have been meeting somebody continuously for ten years, can you ?
"Je l'ai fréquenté (pendant) dix ans" is possible.


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## mabar207

Hi verbivore,

I'd translate "I didn't see her for ten years." by
"J'ai été dix ans sans la voir." (It's over you saw her again at some point in the past)

"Je ne l'ai pas vu pendant dix ans" doesn't sound quite right even if it's proper French. It sounds to me like you were looking or waiting for her and you spent 10 years waiting before you saw her again.


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## verbivore

Merci beaucoup ! C'est une grande aide. Je ne suis plus embrouillé.

Je comprends toutes les deux méthodes :

I didn't see her for 10 years. (J'ai été dix ans sans la voir. OR Pendant dix ans, je ne l'ai pas vue.) We are in the present talking about the past...i.e. I just saw her again after 10 years. The passé composé creates a connection to the present. 

I hadn't seen her for 10 years. (past perfect tense) =
Ça faisait dix ans que je ne l'avait pas vue. (In reference to the past, and implies you have seen her again.)

Si mon résumé n'est pas correct, laissez-moi savoir, svp. Sans ça, merci encore.


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## mabar207

Your are right!

I would only add:

"Ça faisait dix ans que je ne l'avais pas vue." is usually used with a context like:
"J'ai vu Sara hier, ça faisait dix ans que je ne l'avais pas vue!"
"J'ai vu" is in past (Passé composé) but "faisait" refers to before you saw her again yesterday.

While "J'ai été dix ans sans la voir" is all right by its own.

Anybody could confirm?


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## verbivore

You know, as embarrasing as this may be, I don't think using the simple past in English works here. I messed up. There are only 2 possible scenarios, and I inadvertently created 3:

I haven't seen her in 10 years (I still have not seen her).

I hadn't seen her in 10 years. (I saw again her recently or a while ago)

I didn't see her in 10 years.  

I didn't see her.  (simple statement of fact)

Thanks again!


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## verbivore

Upon further reflection, the idea of "I didn't see her in 10 years", is one of realizing a task which works with _en_ in French. It is bizarre and useless, but semantically speaking one could conjure up meaning even in this weird context.

I did the dishes in 10 minutes. _J'ai fait la vaisselle en 10 minutes. _
I didn't see her in 10 years (because it usually takes me 12!) _Je ne l'ai pas vue en 10 ans parce que ça prend 12!_


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## mabar207

I haven't seen her in 10 years (I still have not seen her).
Je ne l'ai pas vu depuis 10 ans.
Ça fait 10 ans que je ne l'ai pas vu

I hadn't seen her in 10 years. (I saw again her recently or a while ago)
Je ne l'avais pas vu depuis 10 ans.
Ça faisait 10 ans que je ne l'avais pas vu.

I didn't see her. (simple statement of fact)
Je ne l'ai pas vu.

Here it's confusing, I might be wrong but I think "I haven't seen her" and "I didn't see her" would be both:
Je ne l'ai pas vu.

e.g. 1
J'ai été au bar hier et je ne l'ai pas vu.

e.g. 2
- Où est Marie?
- Je ne sais pas, je ne l'ai pas vu.


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## mabar207

Hi again!

To me "_Je ne l'ai pas vue en 10 ans parce que ça prend 12!"_ sounds weird. A more natural way of saying that would be:
_"Je ne l'ai pas vue *depuis* 10 ans..."

_Qu'en penses-tu?


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## verbivore

mabar207 said:


> I haven't seen her in 10 years (I still have not seen her).
> Je ne l'ai pas vu depuis 10 ans.
> Ça fait 10 ans que je ne l'ai pas vu
> 
> I hadn't seen her in 10 years. (I saw again her recently or a while ago)
> Je ne l'avais pas vu depuis 10 ans.
> Ça faisait 10 ans que je ne l'avais pas vu.
> 
> I didn't see her. (simple statement of fact)
> Je ne l'ai pas vu.
> 
> Here it's confusing, I might be wrong but I think "I haven't seen her" and "I didn't see her" would be both: *Yes*
> 
> *Je ne l'ai pas vu. (haven't - up to now) *
> 
> *Je ne la vit pas. (didn't - simple statement of fact with no reference to present) (litterary and pedantic sounding in French, but in English we use the simple past frequently in conversation.)*
> 
> e.g. 1
> J'ai été au bar hier et je ne l'ai pas vu. (simple statement of fact)
> 
> e.g. 2
> - Où est Marie?
> - Je ne sais pas, je ne l'ai pas vu.


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## verbivore

mabar207 said:


> Hi again!
> 
> To me "_Je ne l'ai pas vue en 10 ans parce que ça prend 12!"_ sounds weird. A more natural way of saying that would be:
> _"Je ne l'ai pas vue *depuis* 10 ans..."_
> 
> Qu'en penses-tu?


 
Yes, as I said it is weird. It is not something you would likely come across. That is why you should not say : *I didn't see here in 10 years. *Once you make reference to a period of time, we use depuis/ca fait instead. _I didn't see her in 10 years_ is not correct English. Je m'excuse si j'ai induit quelqu'un en erreur.


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## Areyou Crazy

Punky Zoé said:


> . But you can't say you have been meeting somebody continuously for ten years, can you ?



Oh yes you can


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## mabar207

Oh d'accord je comprends, désolé j'avais mal lu!

Merci pour les clarifications!


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