Learn English – Is “have not worked here for a long time” ambiguous

ambiguitymeaningpresent-perfect

I have not worked here for a long time/for many years.

Is it ambiguous? Which of the two below is the correct meaning?

  1. I have been working here, but only for a short period of time.
  2. I once worked here, but I left a long time ago.

If it is ambiguous, how to express these two meanings unambiguously?

Another related expression:

I have not worked here in a long time/in many years.

I think it unambiguously expresses the 2nd meaning so I didn't bring it up. But I want to confirm it with experts here.

Best Answer

From a strictly grammatical point of view it is ambiguous. However a native speaker would only use the phrasing "for a long time" if they meant that they had worked here previously but it was a long time ago.

If the other interpretation was intended they would say:

I haven't worked here for very long.

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