How to Say ‘Long time no see.’ in Simplified Chinese
好久不见。
hǎo jiǔ bù jiàn
[haow jyoe boo jyen]
💬 Usage Tip: [好久不见] is a fixed way to say "long time no see," not a full sentence you'd build word by word in the usual way. Learn it as a chunk, like [明天见] "see you tomorrow."
Phrase Breakdown
好久
hǎo jiǔ
a long time; for a long while
Used to describe a long period of time.
好久没见你了。
I haven't seen you for a long time.
Words in this phrase
好
hǎo
[haow]
good; well
Here 好 is part of the set greeting 好久不见, meaning a long time. It does not mean good by itself in this phrase.
见到亲戚时说“好久不见。”很自然，这里的“好”在“好久不见”里。
When meeting relatives, saying “Long time no see” is very natural; the “hǎo” here is part of “hǎojiǔ bú jiàn.”
久
jiǔ
[jyoe]
long time; long duration
In this greeting, 久 helps express that a lot of time has passed since the last meeting.
“好久不见。”里的“久”表示很长时间没见面。
The “jiǔ” in “Long time no see” shows that a long time has passed since meeting.
不见
bù jiàn
not see; absent; haven't seen
Here it is part of the set phrase 好久不见, meaning “haven't seen you in a long time.”
好久不见，你最近好吗？
Long time no see, how have you been recently?
Words in this phrase
不
bù
[boo]
not; no
不 negates the verb 见 here, creating the meaning have not seen.
“好久不见。”里的“不”说明最近没有见面。
The “bù” in “Long time no see” shows that you haven’t met recently.
见
jiàn
[jyen]
to see; to meet
见 is the action of seeing or meeting. In this greeting, it refers to meeting someone again after time apart.
回家见到岳父母时，可以说“好久不见。”这里的“见”很重要。
When you go home and meet your in-laws, you can say “Long time no see.” The “jiàn” here is important.
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