Chinese phrases
How to say long time no see in Chinese
Long time no see in Chinese is 好久不见 (hǎo jiǔ bú jiàn). It works with anyone you haven’t seen for a while, from an old friend to a former teacher.
好久不见
long time no see
Ways to say long time no see
好久不见
Everydaylong time no see
To anyone you haven’t seen for months: an old classmate, a former colleague, a teacher.
好久没见了
With friendsit’s been ages
More conversational. Common between friends.
好久没联系了
Textingwe haven’t been in touch for ages
To open a message to someone you haven’t talked to in a long time.
稀客
With friendsa rare guest!
A host’s teasing hello when you finally visit. Often doubled: 稀客稀客.
What people say next
最近怎么样
how have you been?
The natural follow-up.
最近在忙什么
what have you been up to?
Asks about work and life.
你一点都没变
you haven’t changed a bit
A warm compliment.
你瘦了
you’ve lost weight
Usually meant as a compliment.
你胖了
you’ve put on weight
Common from older relatives. To them it’s small talk, but many younger people don’t like hearing it.
Common mistakes
Being upset by 你胖了
After a long time, older relatives often comment on your weight: 你胖了 or 你瘦了. To them it’s small talk, and 你胖了 can even mean you look healthy. Laugh, or say 是吗, “really?” Don’t say 你胖了 to friends your age: many people mind it.
Full tones on 好久不见
好久 is two third tones, so the first one rises: háo jiǔ. And 不 becomes bú before the fourth tone of 见.
Meeting an old classmate
里昂？好久不见！
Qiqi: Leon? Long time no see!
好久不见！你一点都没变。
Leon: Long time no see! You haven’t changed a bit.
你也是！最近在忙什么？
Qiqi: Neither have you! What have you been up to?
在学中文呢。
Leon: Learning Chinese.
