How to Say ‘Haven't seen you’ in Simplified Chinese
不见
bù jiàn
[boo jyen]
💬 Usage Tip: [不见] literally means "not see," but in [好久不见] it means "haven't seen each other" as a set greeting. You'll see the same plain [不 + verb] pattern elsewhere too, like [不去] "not go" or [不吃] "not eat".
Phrase Breakdown
不
bù
[boo]
not; no
不 is the basic negative word in Chinese. In 不见, it helps mean not seeing someone.
我们很久不见了，这个“不”表示否定。
We haven’t seen each other for a long time; this “bù” shows negation.
见
jiàn
[jyen]
to see; to meet
见 means to see or meet. In 不见, it refers to not seeing someone for some time.
好久不见，这个“见”就是见面的意思。
Long time no see; this “jiàn” means meeting or seeing someone.
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