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- "你好！好久不见！"
"你好！好久不见！"
Translation:Hello! Long time no see!
62 Comments
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).
160
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.
I heard this 'English' sentence for the first time in Shanghai said by a Chinese person. I think a native English speaker would say something like: 'How are you? I haven't seen you in a long time. Where have you been ...... etc'
I'm a native English speaker, and use the expression, "long time, no see", frequently.
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?
- 365
2020.5.28 I believe that the correct characters would be 好耐冇見。
There is also the expression 好耐唔見
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?'
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. ;)
Why is my answer: 你好! 好久不见 not accepted ? Correct solution: 你好！好久不见！ My solution 你好! 好久不见!
- 194
sometimes in China people tend to use 好 in the same way as 很, so you should understand it in the same way
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.
You didn’t mention which 好 you want to remove. So you would either have 「你好。久不見！」 which is wrong, or 「你好久不見。」 which is more subtly wrong：
If you were to supply an object and a subject to the sentence it would be 我好久不見你 rather than 你好久不見我。
The speaking exercises don't seem to work anymore. I get the 1st character right and the rest wrong. It only happened today and I know it's not me because I could be talking nonsense "lalalala" and I would still get the 1st character green.
Hello, To me " Long time no see" is not correct. I normally say "I haven't seen you for a long time. Do many people use this sentence?
- 81
Yes. Google it. It is a correct sentence and is used a lot. It is in the Camebridge Dictionary. ;o)
"Long time no see" is not a standard English Language. Better translation " how are you doing" or "how are you getting on?"
I agree with Scotty. When I lived in Shanghai I heard this sentence all the time, but only Chinese people greeted me like this. British, American and Australian people never said this, unless when they were making fun of the Chinese-English.
- 81
You are right in saying that it seems not to be grammatically correct English, but it is a correct idiom, despite the wrong grammar, and quite commonly used. So, here you've learned some English along with the Chinese. ;)
- 165
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.
- 2349
Actually, in Canada, it's not an uncommon expression at all. Even Chinese immigrants use it.
I am a native English speaker and I use that phrase often & hear it often as well.
