It is many years since she has been here?

[Tedwonny]

I came across this sentence when I was reading a newspaper the other day. The columnist explains that the sentence means

"it has been a long time since she left."! Really? Isn't this kind of counter-intuitive? I thought it's like: she has been here for some years.

thanks a lot

 

[dilodi83]

They mean exactly the same.

 

[SoothingDave]

The "since" makes the difference.

"She has been here many years" = she is here and has been here for a long time.

"It has been many years since she has been here" = It has been a long time that she has been gone. Since she was last here, it has been a long time.