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- {{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]].
- <div class="jiegou">
- Subj. + Duration + 没 + Verb + Obj. + 了
- </div>
- 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 ==
- <div class="liju">
- * 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>
- * 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>
- * 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>
- * 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>
- * 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>
- </div>
- 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]."
- <div class="liju">
- *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>
- *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>
- </div>
- ==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 <em>三 天 没</em> 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}}
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