virusgd97

[unkempt trail]

Please be patient

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

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[stiff birch]

I think it means "It's been 10 years I did not come here"

[river yarrow]

This comes down to a difference of how English and French views continuous actions.
Say I have this friend who I used to hang out with a lot but then five years ago I went to university, he went to another university, and that was the last time we'd ever met. So, five years ago me and my friend met for the last time and then from that point onwards to now (as in, in the five years between then and now), we did not meet at all.

So, five years ago me and my friend met for the last time and then from that point onwards to now (as in, in the five years between then and now), we did not meet at all

English would view this act by the last thing that happened, which is the last ever meeting between me and that friend, before the time period (five years) started. The English logic is that something must've happened to cause this period of time to appear. And thus, we have:
'It's been five years since I met my friend.'

French would view this act by what was happening within that time period. Within those five years, my friend and I did not meet at all, and that fact has stayed true until now. French doesn't care about what started the period of time, only about the action, the thing happening, within that time. The absence of an action would instead provoke the passé composé because, well, the action stopped in the past; there's nothing being done.
« Ça fait cinq ans que je n'ai pas rencontré mon ami. »

« Ça fait » here can be replaced with « depuis » like « Je n'ai pas rencontré mon ami depuis cinq ans » or like your example, voilà : « Voilà cinq ans que je n'ai pas rencontré mon ami. »

[river yarrow]

This difference also helps you understand why the positive form is also different.
Say five years ago, I moved to the city of London. From that point on I started living in London and now I'm still in London.

The English perspective would be that the last thing I did before the time period in question started was moving to London. To mark a past event with present-day consequences, I would use the present perfect tense. To emphasise that I'm still living in London now, I add the progressive/continuous aspect:
'I've been living in London for five years.'

The French perspective would be that before those five years I was not in London and then within a period of five years I was living in London. Because I'm still living in London now, I would use the simple present tense:
« J'habite à Londres depuis cinq ans »
We can also use the alternatives mentioned above to make:
« Voilà cinq ans que j'habite à Londres »
« Ça fait cinq ans que j'habite à Londres »

@strange bear It's a bit confusing at first but that's the way it is

Notice also the preposition differences: French uses « depuis (since) » whereas English uses 'for (pour)'

[compact gazelle]

can you not say "ça fait 5 ans depuis que j'ai rencontré mon ami" ?

english is pretty flexible, you can say "I haven't come here for 10 years" or "It's been 10 years since I came here" or even "It's been 10 years that I haven't come here" but the last one sounds a bit colloquial

[river yarrow]

Not really, no

since « ça fait » and « depuis » are synonyms

Maybe « depuis que » can be inserted as a sort of clarifier but I would say that it has no bearing on « ça fait » as a duration