# All Slavic languages: Long time no see



## mateo19

Hello fellow forum dwellers,

I would be very interested in seeing how you say "long time no see" in your respective languages.  In English, we use this expression when we haven't see a friend in a long time.  For example, I can say to him or her, "Hello Chris. Long time no see! (=I haven't seen you or we haven't seen each other in a long time).  How have you been?"


Thank you in advance for your contributions.


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## kusurija

In Czech:
Dávno jsme se neviděli (pl.m.; pl. m.+f.);Dávno jsme se neviděly (pl.f.)
(Ahoj, Chrisi, dávno jsme se neviděli!)


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## trance0

Slovene:

Živjo(Ljubljana version of "hello"), dolgo se že nismo(plural)/nisva(dual) videli(plural masculine, dual feminine)/videla(dual masculine)/videle(plural feminine).


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## Kanes

Bulgarian:

Best translation of long time no see is *odavna nesmese vizdali* - we haven't been seeing each other from long ago. But the usual is, *mnogo vreme mina* - long time passed.


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## mateo19

Hello Kane,
Bulgarian uses the Cyrillic alphabet, right?  Could it be:

Одавна несмесе виздали / много време мина ?

Тhank you for your confirmation!


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## Kanes

Yep, we invented it! Almost right but in writing we separate all particles, so the first one is *Отдавна не сме се виждали.* The latinised version is the phonetic one. Second sentance is right.


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## werrr

kusurija said:


> In Czech:
> Dávno jsme se neviděli (pl.m.; pl. m.+f.);Dávno jsme se neviděly (pl.f.)
> (Ahoj, Chrisi, dávno jsme se neviděli!)



"Dlouho jsme se neviděli." in proper Czech.

dávno = long time ago
dlouho = for a long time

You should either use "dlouho jsme se neviděli" or "je to dávno, kdy jsme se viděli naposledy".


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## mateo19

Does anyone know the Slovak version or can they confirm it?

My attempt:
*Dlho sme sa nevideli!*


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## werrr

Your attempt is completely perfect.


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## mietagosia

Hey! Here are some Polish phrases to use in such situation:

Dawno się nie widzieliśmy! (man talking to a man/men or a woman talking to a man/men) - "We didn't see each other for long"
Dawno się nie widziałyśmy! (woman to woman) - "We didn't see each other for long"

Całe wieki się nie widzieliśmy/widziałyśmy! - lit. "We didn't see each other for ages"

You can also ask a rhetoric question, kind of exclaiming it: "Jak my już długo się nie widzieliśmy?" (lit. "How long didn't we see each other?", meaning "Where was the last time we met?")

Finally, there's a typical Polish phrase used among friends. It's a bit old-fashioned now but you can still hear people using it. It's "Kopę lat!". "Kopa" was a word used in trading eggs and it meant five dozens, ie sixty eggs. Therefore, "Kopę lat!" is an exclamation saying "Sixty years!". You don't have to finish the sentence, as everybody knows you're talking about not seeing a person for sixty years.


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## echo chamber

In *Macedonian*:

_Одамна не сме се виделе_ /Odamna ne sme se videle/ (literally: Long time no see =) )

You can also say: 
_Од кога не сме се виделе_ /Od koga ne sme se videle/ (something like: When was the last time we saw each other...);
or: _Колку време не сме се виделе_ /Kolku vreme ne sme se videle/ (almost the same as the previous one).

All of them are mutually interchangeable with one another in every situation, no matter gender nor age.


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## mateo19

Thank you for the confirmation, Werrr!

Does anyone know the Russian or the Ukrainian?


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## sirix

In my opinion "long time, no see" is a great phrase, and untranslatable properly to polish (ungrammatical things usually sound rude in polish, same with other slavic languages probably; and being  grammatical 4-short-words sentence with so much meaning is impossible). I for one use it sometimes without translation when meeting a close friend.

Of all translations that come to mind, "Kopę lat" has a closest emotional meaning, for me. Just to complement info given by mietagosia: "Kopę lat" is an accusative of "Kopa lat", which is perhaps a reason why one knows what does it refer to without forming a full sentence.


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## mateo19

Кто этo знат по-русски или по-укранськи?

(Neviem, či to je správne, ale chcel som to napisať tak.)


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## Bosta

I remember years ago learning the Russian phrase

сколько лет, сколько зим
How many summers, how many winters.

I don't know if people still say this or if it's a bit old fashioned. It's a nice phrase anyway.


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## Oh là là

Russian: давно не виделись!
             100 лет не виделись!
certainly, сколько лет, сколько зим!


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## Maja

Serbian:
одавно/дуго се нисмо видели
odavno/dugo  se nismo videli.


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## Duya

Maja said:


> Serbian:
> одавно/дуго се нисмо видели
> odavno/dugo  se nismo videli.



Also, one often hears "sto godina se nismo videli" (a hundred years), also shortened to just "sto godina".


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## mateo19

I am sorry to keep bugging, but is there not someone who knows the Ukrainian version?  I was really hoping to compare it to the Ukrainian as well and would be most appreciative if someone knew how to say "long time no see" in this language.  Thank you very much!


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## Natabka

mateo19 said:


> I am sorry to keep bugging, but is there not someone who knows the Ukrainian version?  I was really hoping to compare it to the Ukrainian as well and would be most appreciative if someone knew how to say "long time no see" in this language.  Thank you very much!



Hello to the most inquisitive forero I know! 

I' afraid there's no direct equivalent to that phrase in Ukrainian, but here's what we usually say:

Як давно я тебе/Вас не бачила(f)/не бачив(m)! - It's been a long time since I last saw you! This one is the most general and will do in the majority of contexts.

Сто років тебе не бачила/не бачив! - Наven't seen you for hundred years!
-more colloquial.*

Які люди!! - literary "What people!", colloquial with a sense of a pleasant surprise. Usually, when you say this you should grin and open your arms wide for a hug.

Кого я бачу! - "Whom do I see!", similar to the previous one.

________
* Usually I use this one. But as it is a cliché I try to refresh it by saying somethind like: "Haven't seen you for 123 years!" which sounds more fun))

Hope that was of some help to you!
(And feel free to correct my mistakes in English when replying)


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## mateo19

Привіт, Наталю!
I was searching on the Internet and Omniglot.com had this expression in a list with other Ukrainian expressions.  How about this?

Давно не бачились!

I don't know if it's just a translation of the English or if this is actually said.  What do you think?


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## Natabka

Hi, Mateo!

Yes, it's perfectly all right to say 

"Давно не бачились!" 

It's neutral, can be used almost in all situations. (I've mentioned "Як давно [я] тебе не бачив!", but now I see that it's too long, your's variant is better


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## dihydrogen monoxide

BCS:
Gdje si kućo stara! literal translation (Where are you old house?)


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