How to Say “It has been a while” in Chinese
Greetings and politeness · HSK 3
"It has been a while" in Chinese is 好久不见 (Hǎojiǔ bú jiàn). 好久不见 is one of the few Chinese phrases that crossed into English as 'long time no see'; it's a near word-for-word calque from Chinese pidgin. Among Mandarin speakers it's still the standard reunion greeting.
Primary translation
好久不见
Hǎojiǔ bú jiàn
Traditional: 好久不見
Variants by register
Formal
好久没见了
Hǎojiǔ méi jiàn le
Casual
好久没见
Hǎojiǔ méi jiàn
When to use it
好久不见 is one of the few Chinese phrases that crossed into English as 'long time no see'; it's a near word-for-word calque from Chinese pidgin. Among Mandarin speakers it's still the standard reunion greeting. 好久没见 (with 没 méi instead of 不 bù) is slightly more colloquial and grammatically 'correct' in formal grammar books, since 没 negates past actions. Both are used interchangeably in speech. Note 不 changes from bù to bú before the fourth-tone 见. Pair it with 最近怎么样? (how've you been lately?) to keep the conversation moving.
Example sentences
好久不见！你看起来气色很好。
Hǎojiǔ bú jiàn! Nǐ kàn qǐlái qìsè hěn hǎo.
Long time no see! You look great.
好久没见了，最近在忙什么？
Hǎojiǔ méi jiàn le, zuìjìn zài máng shénme?
It's been a while, what have you been up to?
哎呀，好久不见，快进来坐！
Āiyā, hǎojiǔ bú jiàn, kuài jìnlái zuò!
Oh wow, long time no see, come in and sit!