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How to Say ‘How long does it take?’ in Traditional Chinese

要多久?

yào duō jiǔ

[yào duō jiǔ]

💬 Usage Tip: 要 here means "takes" (time), not "want". Put the way you're traveling in front of it: 坐公車要多久? "How long by bus?".

Phrase Breakdown

要

yào

[yào]

to take (time); to need

Indicates how much time or cost something requires.

Example

坐公車要十分鐘。

Taking the bus takes ten minutes.

多久

duō jiǔ

[duō jiǔ]

how long

A question about duration of time.

Example

你在這裡工作多久了?

How long have you been working here?

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