"你好！好久不见！"
Translation:Hello! Long time no see!
38 Comments
Does this sentence literally translate to the same idiom (minus the 好, good)?
Quite literally! It's even likey (though not provable) that the English idiom came from the Chinese since the English syntax here is nonsensical. "Hao" can be used as a modifier and in this sense literally means "long" (time).
Funny. As a non-native English speaker I first learned about the phrase "Long time no see" in anime subtitles and took it for a crude literal translation from Japanese. Turns out I wasn't so far from the truth.
Isnt English and Mandarin different Syntax structure/platform? Where did you get your facts from...
Indeed, and the word order in "long time no see," is ungrammatical for English but correct and common in Chinese. While the origin of the English saying is not known for certain, it is likely to have originated from either this Chinese phrase, or from a Native American-English pidgin. For more info, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_time_no_see
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_time_no_see
In summary: Chinese may be where the English idiom CAME from.
Why is "it's been a long time" incorrect, when "it's been a while" is the "right" translation?
sometimes in China people tend to use 好 in the same way as 很, so you should understand it in the same way
We would use 'long time no see' sarcastically sometimes. If someone leaves and comes straight back for instance. In Chinese you can definitely not use it that way. They won't understand. ;)
I find that 你好吗 means 'are you good?' and people usually answer yes or no. 你怎么样 is 'how are you?'
Due to tone sandhi, that is how you pronounce the phrase. But be aware that hao3 is the way you would type the 好 on a keyboard.
See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tone_sandhi for more about sandhi.
Never heard long time no se in English!!! What about long time we don't see, long time we've last seen...
It's a common idiom in English, though maybe less so in the youngest generations. The other phrases you mentioned don't occur, they're ungrammatical :/
I know the first very well. We use it a lot when I'm from. Ive never heard your suggestions. Where are you from?
Yea but it seem like mod learnt "chinese english". No native speaker of english would be caught dead say "long time no see" as a phrase on its own.
1880
Actually, in Canada, it's not an uncommon expression at all. Even Chinese immigrants use it.
