- For Teachers "Long time no see" means "I have'n seen you in a
long time"? Yes, as bhaisahab already said, that is what it
means. Regarding this expression, there is an interesting post
by TheParser in this thread: (1) I understand that it is an
exact translation from Mandarin Chinese: Hao = Very Jiu = Long
time Bu = Not Jian = See. The "smooth" English translation would
be "I have not seen you for a long time" or "It has been a long
time since I have seen you." (2) If you meet someone from China,
it might be better not to say this. Perhaps some Chinese people
might feel that you are mocking their language. It would
probably be safer just to use the English translation. "It has
been a long time since I've seen you." I must say that I am
unfamiliar with this way of speaking the language. I've tried to
explain the way to myself but I couldn't. It's been a long time
since I saw you. (Both of them know when they last met) "It's
been a long time since" could be the definite adverb of time for
the simple past "saw