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Chinese vocabulary · Beginner
How do you say "its been a while" in Chinese?
好久不见了
hǎo jiǔ bú jiàn le
In Chinese, "its been a while" is 好久不见了 (hǎo jiǔ bú jiàn le).
Listen to the pronunciation:
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Pronunciation
When you say hǎo jiǔ bú jiàn le, lead with "hǎo" dipped low then curled back up (third tone), then "jiǔ" dipped low then curled back up (third tone), then "bú" pushed upward like a question (second tone), then "jiàn" snapped down sharply (fourth tone), then "le" kept light and neutral.
Writing and usage
好久不见了 is written using hanzi. It's a phrase, part of the vocabulary taught in the Noun Town language learning game.
Example sentence
its been a while
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How to remember 好久不见了
"hǎo jiǔ bú jiàn le" sounds a little like "how jyo boo jyen luh" in English, so picture its been a while to lock in the connection.
Related words
- good morning 早上好
- good afternoon 下午好
- good evening 晚上好
- good night 晚安
- how is it going 进展如何
- whats up 怎么了
- how have you been 你最近怎么样
- its nice outside today 今天外面天气很好
- the weather is nice 天气很好
Browse all Chinese words in the glossary.
Questions about 好久不见了
How do you pronounce 好久不见了?
When you say hǎo jiǔ bú jiàn le, lead with "hǎo" dipped low then curled back up (third tone), then "jiǔ" dipped low then curled back up (third tone), then "bú" pushed upward like a question (second tone), then "jiàn" snapped down sharply (fourth tone), then "le" kept light and neutral.
Is 好久不见了 formal or casual?
好久不见了 is a neutral, everyday word that works in both casual and polite speech.
How is 好久不见了 used in Chinese?
好久不见了 is used the same way as the equivalent English phrase. For example: (its been a while).
Where can I practice Chinese words for free?
You can play free Chinese minigames in your browser on the Noun Town online games page, no sign-up required. Every word in the Chinese glossary also has native audio and an example sentence you can revisit any time.
"Its been a while" in other languages
Curated by Jack Ratcliffe
This word is part of the vocabulary taught in the Chinese language learning game Noun Town, where words are introduced through play rather than memorisation. Want to play the full game? Get Noun Town on Steam.
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