{{Grammar Box}} Saying how long you have done something is pretty simple in Chinese. Saying how long you have ''not'' done something is just as easy. == Structure == Expressing how long something has ''not'' been done is slightly different to expressing the [[Expressing duration|duration of an action]].
Subj. + Duration + 没 + Verb + Obj. + 了
So now the duration comes right after the subject and 了 is at the end of the sentence. The verb has to be [[Negation of past actions|negated with 没]], as the action ''hasn't'' happened. == Examples ==
* 他 已经 三 天 没 洗澡 了。Tā yǐjīng sān tiān méi xǐzǎo le.He has already gone three days without showering. * 我 两年 没 抽烟 了。Wǒ liǎng nián méi chōuyān le.It's been two years since I smoked. * 你们 多长时间 没 回家 看 爸妈 了？ Nǐmen duō cháng shíjiān méi huíjiā kàn bàmā le? How long has it been since the last time you went back home to visit your parents？ * 我爷爷 去 了 台湾 以后 已经 三十年 没 回家了。 Wǒ yéye qù le Tàiwān yǐhòu, yǐjīng sānshí nián méi huíjiā le.It's been 30 years since my grandpa left home for Taiwan. * 她 妈妈 去世 以后，她 都 两个 多 月 没 出门 了。 Tā māma qùshì yǐhòu, tā dōu liǎng gè duō yuè méi chūmén le.She hasn't been out for more than two months since her mother passed away .
In English, we may say something like "I haven't eaten since 9:00 this morning" or "I haven't been to China since the year 2000." Note that the Chinese do not tend to say somebody hasn't done something since a ''certain point in time''. Instead, you should either express it as a duration of time that one hasn't done something (as in the above examples), or you can say "the last time somebody did something was [a certain point in time]."
*我 已经 好几 个 小时 没 吃 东西 了。Wǒ yǐjīng hǎo jǐ gè xiǎoshí méi chī dōngxi le.I haven't eaten anything in several hours. *我 上次 来 中国 是 2000年。Wǒ shàngcì lái Zhōngguó shì liǎngqiān nián.The last time I came to China was the year 2000. (Same meaning as "I haven't been to China since the year 2000.")
==See also== *[[Expressing duration]] *[[Expressing ongoing duration with double "le"]] *[[Uses of le]] ==Sources and Further Reading== ===Books=== * [[Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 2 (3rd ed)]] (pp. 231-2) [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0887276709/ref%3das_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=allset-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399369&creativeASIN=0887276709 →buy] [[Category:B1 grammar points]] {{Basic Grammar|没|B1|Duration + 没 + Verb Phrase (+ 了)|他 已经 三 天 没 洗澡 了。|grammar point|ASGSVF28}} {{Rel char|了}} {{Similar|Uses of le}} {{Similar|Expressing duration with "le"}} {{Similar|Expressing ongoing duration with double "le"}} {{Used for|Expressing duration}} {{Used for|Referring to the past}} {{POS|Verbs}} {{Subprop|Verb phrases}}