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ChineseGrammarWiki


			
				
					
						
						
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<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_&quot;le&quot;" 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&amp;tag=allset-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=217145&amp;creative=399369&amp;creativeASIN=0887276709">
→buy</a></li>
</ul>
<p><a href="Category:B1_grammar_points" title=
"wikilink">Category:B1 grammar points</a></p>
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