# long time no see



## poireau

Hello,

How do you say in Chinese "long time no see"

Thank you.


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## xiaolijie

"好久不见了！"
(and other variations of it)


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## poireau

Thank you is the "le" (了) at the end necessary?  Can you do without?


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## xiaolijie

It's optional but the phrase is very natural with 了.


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## AVim

Is "long time no see" a usual English phrase? I dare not use it since I think it's a Chinglish phrase.


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## xiaolijie

Yes, it's quite normal to use this phrase in casual settings.


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## Boileau419

你失踪了吧 哈哈 could be said after 好久不见了。


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## icelus

好久不见！without 了, it's ok. 

"你好！ 好久不见! "

don't speak "你好！ 好久不见了！"

“咱们 好久不见了， 聚会一下吧！” ，usually in a declarative sentence.


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## yuechu

Sorry to revive an old thread but I had some questions about what has been discussed above.
I noticed that icelus said to not say "你好！好久不见了！". Is that because of the "了" at the end? Is it better to say "好久不见" instead of "好久不见了"?
or when you say "好久不见了" (with the "了"), do you usually have to add something after?

Thanks!


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## Skatinginbc

Greeting: 好久不见 "Long time no see"--It is a fixed expression ==> We don't add an extra 了, or it will break the 4-character idiom.
A: 好久不见! (It is just a cliché)
B: 你好!

Declarative sentence: 好久不见了 "It's been a while since we last saw each other." ==> OK, now that you've made such a statement, what next?  好久不见了, 咱们喝杯咖啡, 聊聊天吧！
A: 好久不见了! (You really mean it)
B: 是啊! 快10年了!


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## Pansy-Shanghai

i think you can use these two phrase when you in the face of different speakers.
i usually say 好久不见 to the normal friends as colleges,classmates.....because it 's just greeting like say hello.
but i always say 好久不见了 to my close friends.because the tone of 好久不见了 always with some emotions of touch and happy.


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## yuechu

Thanks for your replies, Skatinginbc and Pansy-Shanghai! I understand it a lot better now


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## Pansy-Shanghai

it is very happy that can really help you!


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## Setwale_Charm

[Moderator's Note: Merged with a previous thread]
Hello all!

Can anyone advise me if there are phrases in Chinese one uses when meeting someone they have not seen for many many years?

Like "Look who is here!" or "How many years have passed", etc.

What do Chinese people usually say in such situations?


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## brofeelgood

Long time no see = 好久不见.

It has been discussed before in the following threads.

[...] (threads merged)
Long time no hear


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## Setwale_Charm

Thanks. Could you please spell it in Pinyin for me?


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## brofeelgood

Sure, it's 好hao3 久jiu3 不bu4 见jian4.

As a complete phrase, it's pronounced hao2 jiu3 bu2 jian4.


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## Setwale_Charm

非常感謝你!


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