dottelm

[livid timber]

Please be patient

Our volunteers look into many questions every day; sometimes it takes them a little while to answer.

Pro tip: you can rename the thread title with `.tr <thread name>`

Make it descriptive, including relevant context, but also to the point. This way you improve your chances of getting a more relevant and specific answer.

[lone pewter]

All are great except for the first one. Depuis takes the present unless it’s negative in which case it takes the perfect. The key here is that depuis describes duration, something that endures, whereas il y a describes time, a time when something happened. For example, number 5 means that they’ve been playing tennis for several years - the duration of them playing together, whereas number 4 describes when they called each other (I assume) - the time.

Number 1 describes an action, something that happened. Does it have a duration?

Ex for duration:
Elle habite en France depuis trois ans.
She’s been living in France for three years.
=> Implying that she has continuously lived in France for the specified time of three years

Elle n’a pas habité en France depuis trois ans.
She hasn’t been living in France for three years.
=> Implying that she has not lived in France for three years, or closer to the sentence logic, implying that she has continuously not been living in France for three years.