Haven’t seen someone for AGES in French

So you might get by well enough in French, but there comes a time that you want to start getting a touch more accurate. 

Basically, we want to sound as intelligent as we actually are, rather than people judge us as if we were the age of our French-speaking abilities. 

Of course, it’s harder than we think or we would get it right in the first place, so here’s a very brief mini-lesson:

Discover how not to make this easy French mistake: 

• Je ne t’ai pas vu POUR longtemps.  

• How to correctly say you haven’t seen someone for AGES! 

• How DEPUIS fits into that.

Pour for time expressions in French.

If there’s one thing you should learn in this mini-lesson is to avoid the word pour to translate “for”.

Regarding this French word and the notion of time, it’s easy to make mistakes.

To start with, pour implies during and it’s only for the future. Let’s see some examples to illustrate:

• Je serai en France pour les vacances de Noël. >>> I’ll be in France for Christmas holidays.

• Je vais faire un repas pour Pâques. >>> I’ll make a meal for Easter.

So, how would you translate the expression for ages in French? In the next section, I have 5 alternatives for you.

5  French expressions to translate for ages.

Time to dive in. Here are 5 options to choose from

• Je ne t’ai pas vu(e) depuis longtemps.>>> I haven’t seen you for a long time.

The next one is very similar:

• Je ne t’ai pas vu(e) depuis un bon moment.>>> I haven’t seen you for a while.

Now, you are going to learn some idiomatic expressions.

• Je ne t’ai pas vu(e) depuis une éternité.>>> I haven’t seen you for an eternity.

The following one is fun:

• Je ne t’ai pas vu(e) depuis des lustres.>>> I haven’t seen you for ages.

And the last one is more conversational.

• Je ne t’ai pas vu(e) depuis un bail.>>> I haven’t seen you for ages.

 Just check the context to pick your favorite one and you will be good.

Avoid depuis in this case.

If you decide to switch and start with “it’s been ages since…”, the structure in French varies completely. Indeed, this time you drop depuis because you’ll emphasize with “ça fait” (it’s been…)

• Ça fait longtemps que je ne t’ai pas vu(e). >>> It’s been ages since I saw you.
• Ça fait un bon moment que je ne t’ai pas vu(e).>>> It’s been ages since I saw you.
• Ça fait une éternité que je ne t’ai pas vu(e).>>> It’s been ages since I saw you.
• Ça fait des lustres que je ne t’ai pas vu(e).>>> It’s been ages since I saw you.
• Ça fait un bail que je ne t’ai pas vu(e).>>>It’s been ages since I saw you.

To summarise, there are several ways to say you haven’t seen someone for ages in French. You can choose from formal to less formal, concrete and more abstract…

The most important thing is to avoid translating word for word. 

Please refrain from using the French word pour. Instead, choose depuis.

However, if you want to insist on the duration, the structure is inverted and the depuis is replaced by ça fait.

No need to get overwhelmed. Choose your favourite structure then change the option.

You can go further with the following lessons:

How to use DEPUIS in French

6 French expressions to say “It’s been ages”