It’s been a long time since

Question

Is ‘its been a long time since ‘ always followed by a verb in the negative? Some language sites seem to have sentences without a negative.

Céline Pickard · Accepted Answer

Bonjour Ian,
Chris is correct! When the expression implies a duration during which the action has not taken place, then you should use the negation. But there are plenty of of examples without the negation too:

Ça fait longtemps que je ne t'ai pas vu = It's been a while since I saw you
Ça faisait longtemps que je n'avais pas mangé au restaurant = It had been a while since I ate in a restaurant

Cela fait longtemps que je t'aime = I've loved you for a while -> ongoing / a fact
Cela faisait longtemps que l'on se connaissait = We'd known each other for a while -> ongoing in the past

See here: https://www.academie-francaise.fr/mounia-b
I hope this is helpful.
Bonne journée !

Chris Wirt · Answer

Yes, it seems that the negation is used most of the time, even though I found examples that omitted it.