Ça fait longtemps que nous n'avons pas vu nos amis d'enfance.

It has been a long time since we last saw our childhood friends.

Breakdown of Ça fait longtemps que nous n'avons pas vu nos amis d'enfance.

• avoir: to have
• ne ... pas: not
• nous: we
• nos: our
• faire: to do
• que: that
• voir: to see
• longtemps: a long time
• ça: it
• l'ami d'enfance: the childhood friend

Questions & Answers about Ça fait longtemps que nous n'avons pas vu nos amis d'enfance.

What does the structure Ça fait longtemps que... actually mean, and how is it used?

Ça fait longtemps que... is a very common French pattern that means “it has been a long time since…” or “we haven’t … in a long time.”

General pattern:

• Ça fait + length of time + que + sentence (usually in a past or present tense)

Examples:

• Ça fait longtemps que nous n'avons pas vu nos amis d'enfance.
  → It’s been a long time since we saw / have seen our childhood friends.
• Ça fait deux ans que j’habite ici.
  → I’ve been living here for two years.

So Ça fait longtemps que... introduces the idea that a long period of time has passed since something was done (or has been going on).

Why do we say Ça fait and not Il fait here?

In this time expression, ça is a kind of dummy subject (like “it” in English “it has been…”).

French uses:

• Ça fait + durée + que...

and not:

• ✗ Il fait longtemps que... (this sounds wrong/unnatural in this meaning)

Il fait is used in other fixed expressions, especially with weather:

• Il fait froid. – It’s cold.
• Il fait beau. – The weather is nice.

But for “it has been [time] since…”, you must use Ça fait..., not Il fait...

Could we also say Il y a longtemps que nous n'avons pas vu nos amis d'enfance? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can. The two forms are both correct and very close in meaning:

• Ça fait longtemps que nous n'avons pas vu nos amis d'enfance.
• Il y a longtemps que nous n'avons pas vu nos amis d'enfance.

Both mean roughly: “It’s been a long time since we saw our childhood friends.”

Nuance:

• Ça fait... is very common and feels slightly more conversational.
• Il y a... que is also common and perhaps a bit more neutral.

In practice, you can use either one in everyday French without worrying about a strong difference.

Why is it nous n'avons pas vu and not something like nous ne voyons pas?

French and English handle this idea a bit differently.

In English, you often say:

• We haven’t seen our childhood friends in a long time. (present perfect)

French typically uses the passé composé here:

• nous n'avons pas vu (literally “we did not see / have not seen”)

Why passé composé?

• With Ça fait longtemps que..., when you mean “it’s been a long time since we last did X”, French usually refers to that past action with passé composé:
  • Ça fait longtemps que je ne l’ai pas vu.
  • Ça fait longtemps que nous n’avons pas parlé.

Nous ne voyons pas would mean “we do not see” in a general, habitual present, not “we haven’t seen (for a long time).” It doesn’t express the idea of a period of time since the last time.

Why is the negation split like nous n'avons pas vu? Where do ne and pas go?

In standard French negation with a compound tense like passé composé (avoir + past participle), the pattern is:

• ne (or n’ before a vowel)
  • auxiliary verb + pas + past participle

So:

• nous n' + avons + pas + vu
• nous n'avons pas vu

Other examples:

• Je n’ai pas compris. – I didn’t understand / I haven’t understood.
• Ils n’ont pas fini. – They haven’t finished.

So ne and pas go around the auxiliary (avons), not around the past participle (vu).

In speech, can I drop the ne and say Ça fait longtemps qu'on a pas vu nos amis d'enfance?

Yes, this happens all the time in spoken French.

Spoken, informal:

• Ça fait longtemps qu’on a pas vu nos amis d’enfance.

Standard written French:

• Ça fait longtemps que nous n'avons pas vu nos amis d'enfance.

Notes:

• Two stylistic changes there:
  • qu’on instead of que nous (more informal).
  • Dropping ne (very common in everyday speech, but usually kept in careful writing).

If you’re writing for school or exams, keep ne:

• nous n'avons pas vu

Why doesn’t vu agree in number or gender with nos amis? Should it be vus?

With avoir as the auxiliary, the past participle (vu) only agrees with a direct object that comes before the verb.

Here:

• Verb: avons vu
• Direct object: nos amis d’enfance
• Position of the object: it comes after the verb.

Rule:

• If the direct object comes after the verb, no agreement:
  • Nous avons vu nos amis. → vu (no s)
• If the direct object comes before, then it agrees:
  • Nous les avons vus.
    (les refers to nos amis, so vus gets an s)

In your sentence, nos amis d’enfance is after vu, so vu stays invariable.

What does amis d'enfance literally mean, and what is d'enfance grammatically?

Literally:

• amis d’enfance = “friends of (our) childhood”

Meaning:

• It means “childhood friends”: friends you had when you were a child.

Grammatically:

• enfance = “childhood”
• d’ is the contraction of de
  • vowel initial word (enfance)
• The whole d’enfance works like a complement modifying amis, similar to “friends from childhood” in English.

So:

• nos amis d’enfance = “our childhood friends”

Is there any difference between amis d’enfance and amis de l’enfance?

In practice, people almost always say:

• amis d’enfance

Amis de l’enfance is grammatically possible but sounds unusual or too heavy in everyday speech.

So:

• Prefer amis d’enfance for “childhood friends.”
• You might see de l’enfance in more literary or abstract contexts, but in this specific phrase, d’enfance is the natural choice.

Can I express the same idea with depuis longtemps instead of Ça fait longtemps que?

Yes, you can say:

• Nous n'avons pas vu nos amis d'enfance depuis longtemps.

This also means:

• “We haven’t seen our childhood friends for a long time.”

Comparison:

• Ça fait longtemps que nous n'avons pas vu nos amis d'enfance.
• Nous n'avons pas vu nos amis d'enfance depuis longtemps.

Both are correct and common.
Ça fait longtemps que... focuses slightly more on the duration (“It’s been a long time since…”), while depuis longtemps is tagged onto the end of the sentence. In everyday use, they are very close in meaning.