I read the lesson and it indicated that in the negative, with depuis on should use the passe' compose and I got it wrong. The correct answer shows the present tense should be used. This is contrary to the lesson. I am confused and need clarification.
Thank you, Norma
«Depuis longtemps» with «ne ..pas» is a specific case, with different meaning depending on tense used.
Present tense indicating something ongoing, but that hasn't been long-lasting to date = Not (for) long
Passé composé indicating something no longer happening and that ceased a long time ago. Not in a long time. (Note this gets a bit further complicated by being able use «ne ...plus», depuis longtemps and the present tense to also indicate 'not in/for a long time').
The sentence requires ne. ..pas in present tense because the meaning is 'not long'.
This is all covered in the attached lesson, but hopefully 'extracting' it like this may help further.
Using the compound past (Le Passé Composé) vs the present (Le Présent) in negative sentences with "depuis" (since/for) in French %252Fsearch%253Fs%253Ddepuis%252Bsince
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