<!DOCTYPE html> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head> <meta name="generator" content= "HTML Tidy for HTML5 for Linux version 5.2.0" /> <title></title> </head> <body> <p>Saying how long you have done something is pretty simple in Chinese. Saying how long you have <em>not</em> done something is just as easy.</p> <h2 id="structure">Structure</h2> <p>Expressing how long something has <em>not</em> been done is slightly different to expressing the <a href="Expressing_duration" title="wikilink">duration of an action</a>.</p> <div class="jiegou"> <p>Subj. + Duration + 没 + Verb + Obj. + 了</p> </div> <p>So now the duration comes right after the subject and 了 is at the end of the sentence. The verb has to be <a href= "Negation_of_past_actions" title="wikilink">negated with 没</a>, as the action <em>hasn't</em> happened.</p> <h2 id="examples">Examples</h2> <div class="liju"> <ul> <li>他 已经 <em>三 天</em> 没 洗澡 <em>了</em>。<span class="pinyin">Tā yǐjīng <em>sān tiān</em> méi xǐzǎo <em>le</em>.</span><span class= "trans">He has already gone three days without showering.</span></li> <li>我 <em>两年</em> 没 抽烟 <em>了</em>。<span class="pinyin">Wǒ <em>liǎng nián</em> méi chōuyān <em>le</em>.</span><span class="trans">It's been two years since I smoked.</span></li> <li>你们 <em>多长时间</em> 没 回家 看 爸妈 <em>了</em>？ <span class= "pinyin">Nǐmen <em>duō cháng shíjiān</em> méi huíjiā kàn bàmā <em>le</em>?</span> <span class="trans">How long has it been since the last time you went back home to visit your parents？</span></li> <li>我爷爷 去 了 台湾 以后 已经 <em>三十年</em> 没 回家<em>了</em>。 <span class= "pinyin">Wǒ yéye qù le Tàiwān yǐhòu, yǐjīng <em>sānshí nián</em> méi huíjiā <em>le</em>.</span><span class="trans">It's been 30 years since my grandpa left home for Taiwan.</span></li> <li>她 妈妈 去世 以后，她 都 <em>两个 多 月</em> 没 出门 <em>了</em>。 <span class= "pinyin">Tā māma qùshì yǐhòu, tā dōu <em>liǎng gè duō yuè</em> méi chūmén <em>le</em>.</span><span class="trans">She hasn't been out for more than two months since her mother passed away .</span></li> </ul> </div> <p>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 <em>certain point in time</em>. 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]."</p> <div class="liju"> <ul> <li>我 已经 好几 个 小时 <em>没</em> 吃 东西 <em>了</em>。<span class="pinyin">Wǒ yǐjīng hǎo jǐ gè xiǎoshí <em>méi</em> chī dōngxi <em>le</em>.</span><span class="trans">I haven't eaten anything in several hours.</span></li> <li>我 <em>上次</em> 来 中国 <em>是</em> 2000年。<span class="pinyin">Wǒ <em>shàngcì</em> lái Zhōngguó <em>shì</em> liǎngqiān nián.</span><span class="trans">The last time I came to China was the year 2000. (Same meaning as "I haven't been to China since the year 2000.")</span></li> </ul> </div> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul> <li><a href="Expressing_duration" title="wikilink">Expressing duration</a></li> <li><a href= "Expressing_ongoing_duration_with_double_"le"" title= "wikilink">Expressing ongoing duration with double "le"</a></li> <li><a href="Uses_of_le" title="wikilink">Uses of le</a></li> </ul> <h2 id="sources-and-further-reading">Sources and Further Reading</h2> <h3 id="books">Books</h3> <ul> <li><a href="Integrated_Chinese:_Level_1,_Part_2_(3rd_ed)" title= "wikilink">Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 2 (3rd ed)</a> (pp. 231-2) <a href= "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</a></li> </ul> <p><a href="Category:B1_grammar_points" title= "wikilink">Category:B1 grammar points</a></p> </body> </html>