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ChineseGrammarWiki


			
				
					
						
						
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  <h1></h1>

  <p>Saying how long you have done something is pretty simple in Chinese. Saying how long you have not done something is just as easy.</p>

  <h2>Contents</h2>

  <ol>
    <li>Structure<br/></li>

    <li>Examples<br/></li>

    <li>See also<br/></li>

    <li>Sources and further reading<br/></li>

    <ol>
      <li>Books<br/></li>
    </ol>
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  <h2 id="structure">Structure</h2>

  <p>Expressing how long something has not been done is slightly different to expressing the <a href="Expressing_duration" title="wikilink">duration of an action</a>.</p>

  <div>
    <div class="deux">
      Subj. + Duration + <span class="hanzist">没</span> + Verb + Obj. + <span style="color: rgb(255, 127, 80); font-family: NotoSansCJKsc; font-size: 30px;">了</span>
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  <p>So now the duration comes right after the subject and <span class="hanzi">了</span> 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 hasn't happened.</p>

  <h2 id="examples">Examples</h2>

  <div class="exemple">
    <ul>
      <li><span class="hanzi">他 已经 三 天 没 洗澡 了。</span> <span class="pinyin">Tā yǐjīng sān tiān méi xǐzǎo le.</span><br/><span> He has already gone three days without showering.</span></li>

      <li><span class="hanzi">我 两年 没 抽烟 了。</span> <span class="pinyin">Wǒ liǎng nián méi chōuyān le.</span><br/><span> It's been two years since I smoked.</span></li>

      <li><span class="hanzi">你们 多长时间 没 回家 看 爸妈 了？</span> <span class="pinyin">Nǐmen duō cháng shíjiān méi huíjiā kàn bàmā le?</span> <span> How long has it been since the last time you went back home to visit your parents？</span></li>

      <li><span class="hanzi">我爷爷 去 了 台湾 以后 已经 三十年 没 回家了。</span> <span class="pinyin">Wǒ yéye qù le Tàiwān yǐhòu, yǐjīng sānshí nián méi huíjiā le.</span><br/><span> It's been 30 years since my grandpa left home for Taiwan.</span></li>

      <li><span class="hanzi">她 妈妈 去世 以后，她 都 两个 多 月 没 出门 了。</span> <span class="pinyin">Tā māma qùshì yǐhòu, tā dōu liǎng gè duō yuè méi chūmén le.</span><br/><span> She hasn't been out for more than two months since her mother passed away .</span></li>
    </ul>
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  <p>In English, we may say something like "<b>I haven't eaten since 9:00 this morning</b>" or "<b>I haven't been to China since the year 2000.</b>" 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 "<b>the last time somebody did something was [a certain point in time].</b>"</p>

  <div class="exemple">
    <ul>
      <li><span class="hanzi">我 已经 好几 个 小时 没 吃 东西 了。</span> <span class="pinyin">Wǒ yǐjīng hǎo jǐ gè xiǎoshí méi chī dōngxi le.</span><br/><span> I haven't eaten anything in several hours.</span></li>

      <li><span class="hanzi">我 上次 来 中国 是 2000年。</span> <span class="pinyin">Wǒ shàngcì lái Zhōngguó shì liǎngqiān nián.</span><br/><span> 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>Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 2 (3rd ed) (pp. 231-2)</li>
  </ul>
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