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- "好久不见！你怎么样？"
"好久不见！你怎么样？"
Translation:Long time no see! How are you doing?
89 Comments
I put: "Long time no see. How have you been." This should be an acceptable answer.
This should be the main answer. If you haven't seen someone in a long time, you don't ask "how are you doing?" you ask "how have you been?".
Unless you're more concerned with the present moment than the past...
You would say that, but that's not what it means. Duolingo doesn't want you to translate a phrase to what you would find fitting, when it doesn't mean that. It is showing you that you can use these phrases together.
it just marked me wrong for "long time no see. how've you been." Maybe it does not like the contraction
exactly what I put, and marked wrong, seriously, long time no see is certainly not formal and isn't even grammatically correct and then I can't use "How've you been"? when in all reality if I were going to even say "long time no see" to someone I would most certainly follow it with "How Ya Been" and I knew better than to try that one!
How is this sentence the way it's structured any different than, "How have you been?" Why is this not correct? Both are asking the same thing with basically the same time reference. (Most recently.)
1189
I said 你怎么样 (how are you) to a coworker, who told me that they don't often say this phrase, preferring 你好 instead. She said it was more of a formal, business phrase. Regional differences?
Along with what TellTheSeal noted, after living and teaching in China for the past 2 years, I've found a few more things about this phrase to be true...
"怎么样" can be used colloquially to mean:
"What do you think?" "What's wrong?"
- 457
I have heard that 你好 is a more "standard" form of "Hello," whereas 怎么样 is more like "How's it going?" or "What's up?" Both 你好 and 怎么样 are greetings, but 你好 is a safe, standard greeting, whereas 怎么样 is more "familiar" or "casual," more the way you would greet a close friend than an acquaintance, a coworker in a professional setting, or a social superior or authority such as a teacher, boss, or policeman.
"We haven't seen each other in so long, how are you?" should be correct.
- 438
Long time no see is a standard slang expression from American English. I can't speak for British English. But it is a greeting that is often used even if you've only not seeing the person for a month if you expected to see them more often. The full expression might be long time no see how have you been doing?
I read somewhere that it's just a literal translation of "Long time no see," which is a fairly common phrase in English, even though it does not have correct grammar. I read that it has been picked up by some Chinese speakers. So if that's true, it would be best to use a literal translation. A literal translation would carry both the best translation of the individual words and also the best description of the meaning of the phrase in the way it is used.
It's the other way around. It's just a literal translation from Chinese, most likely by Chinese immigrants in the US.
I agree with wQSox. It must be the other way round, as it isn't a typical or even grammatical English construction, but is pretty common as a colloquial or informal expression. The words hang together in what seems to me to be in a typically Chinese way, where words don't need to change their form according to their function within the sentence. "see"is placed after "no" as if it were a noun. And there's no stated subject. It makes for a very expressive greeting.
It is Chinglish. That phrase is a direct translation from Chinese . It has become a correct English phrase.
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I think 好久 is a set phrase meaning "for a long time", and then 不见 means "no see". So, think of 好久 ("long time") as one unit, and 不见 ("no see") as another
hao3 also means "great" so you can maybe take it as "great long time" meaning its been very long. At least that's how I've come to understand this.
I've developed a noticing of my liking to your comments throughout the course..
- 971
what is wrong with "好久不见你怎么样" ? Doesn't Duoling ignore punctuation marks any longer?
Listening/audio exercise
Yes but it is strongly idiomatic as it is not even a grammatically correct sentence. There is an interesting thread above about how it probably actually came from Chinese which it seems to be an almost literal translation of.
"Long time no see. How are you going?" should be accepted ! ( Australian English)
does not accept " long time no see, how the hell have you been!! although that's what I'd say If i were so slangy as to greet with "Long time no see" I'm kind of amazed that Native Americans don't take offense at this 1950's TV Indian dialogue. It's the same as if the answer to "He doesn't speak English" was " He no speakee Englee". just sayin'.
I get your point. But, in Houston TX - we really did say "Long time now see". Perhaps there was a Chinese influence - so no, it was not making fun of indigenous. I am 57% Mexican American indigenous - so perhaps that is why I heard this phrase - I can't tell you if it was family members or the general public where we talked this way. Just saying....
The problem is that that is not an English idiom (and is not a grammatically correct sentence either).
"How are you getting on?" was marked wrong. Like many of the others below, it should be marked right. There a lot of expressions for this in English.
Very commonly used in the past but you don't hear it as often these days. I suppose it is regional and maybe more common in older native English speakers. Nevertheless it is understood by and familiar to most speakers I should think.
"Long time no see", as has been said, in this discussion, it was quite popular in America, at least in the Southwest part, where I grew up. I also have not heard it recently. Come to think of it, I have said it to a friend recently, that I had not seen in a very long time, and they understood me. The way i use this saying, it is a very friendly, upbeat way of saying "It's been too long since I've seen you!"
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I put : "Long time no see, how are you going" Should be accepted right? Debería ser aceptado cierto?
No, don't use: "going", it means something different, instead use: "doing'. As in "How are you doing?" You might be thinking of the phrase: "How is it going?" To me, the phrase "How are you going?", means, "What mode of transportation are you going to use to go someplace?" A car? A bike? A train? Walking? "Where are you going? Is a phrase I have heard. And it means: "To which location are you going to?"
I think it's such a colloquial expression, there'll be a lot of variations to this. I would use either "going" or "doing", but it'll depend on contexr etc
Colloquially, "how's it going?" Means "how are you doing?" In American English. However, "how ARE you going" would imply a question about how to get from A to B: how are yiu going (to get there)? A bije or a car?
These two sentences do not fit together grammatically. I would never use them together. The second one in English should be present perfect. How have you been....
Long time no see. How are things with you? seems to be a more accurate translation, as "you/你“ is not necessary to ask "How are things?". Otherwise, the literal translation is: "Long time no see. You how are things." Which doesn't seem to make sense in either language.
- 703
Long time no see! How are you? had been marked correct multiple times and this time was rejected. Inconsistent! But still correct English.
It's informal, but it is commonly used. It's part of the English language. It's in the dictionary.
- 1122
I concur. "Long time no see" is way too literal translation, maybe used in colloquial... Singlish.
How can the same phrase have two separate meanings? On one occasion it's how have you been, then another how are you doing? Make up your mind!@
"Long time no see" is nither correct nor proper English. How can it be used in a learning tool as the only acceptable answer??
'Long time no see' is regularly used in native English and well understood as short hand for 'I haven't seen you for a long time, (& 'how are you?' is implied)
You would benefit from understanding that there is a BIG difference between THEORETICAL and APPLIED linguistics.
We don't always use (apply) the language as the grammar rules (theories) dictate; and likewise, the way a language is used (applied) helps evolve the rules (theories) for what is acceptable usage (application).
When you both learn and teach language, you must acknowledge that language is a fluid thing.
In this case, the creators of DuoLingo are making a point to SIMPLY use what rules we apply when we ACTUALLY speak.
It may not be PROPER, but it IS CORRECT!
what is valid and true and has the same meaning will be scored as wrong if it is not what this app has been programed to accept, make no sense I know but that's what you get with computer programs, they are only as good as the programer
'Long time no see'...is a fairly common expression in Australian speech, so there is no problem with that. However, 'How are you going?' should be accepted as it is often used Down Under. (Have also heard it being said in USA a few times) Please allow this as an English translation.
No one, as a native American English speaker, would ever say "How are you GOING?"
We'd say either: HOW'S IT going? * or HOW ARE YOU doing?**
"How are you going" should be accepted...using going and doing works in English
In Australia and probably England, "going" is much more commonly used. I'm sure if someone came up to you and said, "How are you going?" you'd have a pretty good understanding of what they meant.
What, you think "it" can be "going" but "you" can't be "going"? That's, like, a rule for you?
How did this comment get so many down votes? I came here to say this. I was really surprised it didn't accept "going", which seemed to me actually better English than "doing".
No it doesn't. "Going" and "Doing" are two different concepts in English. Valley slang may use "Going/Goes" to replace doing/says, but proper English does not.
Not really at all. Totally disagree. "How's it going?", "How are you going?" and "How are you doing?" all mean the same thing. When someone says "going" in this context, they don't actually mean going anywhere. When someone says "doing" in this context, they don't actually mean doing anything specific. You could be doing nothing, and someone might still ask you how you are doing. You could be going nowhere, and someone might still ask you how you are going. It's not about actually going or doing. It just means "How are you? Are you happy today? Is everything OK with you?"
"How're" is as legal as "Yon't to" for do you want to. II's therefore "how are".
