For example, I wish to state that it's been a long time since I used or studied Spanish, would that be?
Hace muchos años que lo usé
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1 Answer
Your translation is correct however "usé" sounds like if you were talking about an object.
To better express the idea about the knowledge of a language I think you should use verbs like "estudiar" "hablar" o "practicar" i.e.
Hace muchos años que lo estudié, pero no lo he hablado en mucho tiempo. (It's been years since I studied it, but I've not spoken it in a while)
Hace mucho tiempo que no lo hablo/practico. (It's been a long time since I spoke it)
You can also change the order of the sentence :
Lo estudié/hablé hace mucho tiempo
Estudié español hace mucho tiempo.
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The usage I've not is perfectly OK although I was taught as a child only to use it in direct speech. I would query the other sentence though: 'It's been a long time since I spoke it' sounds much better to my ears (as a native of the UK).– mdeweyApr 7, 2016 at 12:35
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@Ustanak Since I'm not a native english speaker I just made a search and "I've not" is ok. Thanks anyway for making me doubt. That is how we learn– DGaleanoApr 7, 2016 at 12:41
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@mdewey I agree with your comment. It sounds a lot better. Anyway it would be nice to know if "It's been a long time since I don't speak/practice it" is wrong.– DGaleanoApr 7, 2016 at 12:44