French language Q&A Forum

Not sure if this belongs here as another one of the meanings of être + passé or if it's just idiomatic, but I came across this variant in the J'adore nager listening excercise https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/my-languages/french/exercises/overview/629, and neither this lesson nor the other one Passer/se passer/se passer de - the different meanings of the verb "passer" in French, helped decode it. According to what my search turned up, it means "it's over", or "it's gone"? It does make sense with the context.

How can "vous êtes arriv________ en retard" ever be "Vous êtes arrivé or arrivée en retard". It can surely only be "vous êtes arrivés" or "vous êtes arrivées en retard"??

Test question: How would you say "I haven't been in France for long."?

Per the lesson, Ne...pas + Présent indicatif + depuis longtemps = not long / not for long -> It started a short while ago, and is still ongoing

My answer marked incorrect: Je n'arrive pas en France depuis longtemps.

Correct answer per system: Je ne suis pas arrivé en France depuis longtemps.

According to the lesson,

use of Présent indicatif translates as "not long / not for a long time," whereas

use of Passé composé translates as "not for a long time / not for ages; over and done in the past"