イギリス英会話ブログ

I think most Japanese students are familiar with the expression ‘Long time no see!’, used to mean 「久しぶりですね」 in English. This expression was originally coined by Chinese dock workers who used broken English to communicate with foreign sailors. For some reason, the phrase spread rapidly and is now accepted as regular usage by native speakers. A more correct English version would be, ‘I haven’t seen you for a long time.’

coin - 造りだす

Apart from this set expression though, it can be difficult to translate 久しぶり effectively. Let me give you some tips on how to make suitable sentences in English.

set expression - 決まり文句

• 昨日、久しぶりに散歩をしました。
• Yesterday, for the first time in a long time, I went out for a walk.
• Yesterday I went for a walk, for the first time in a long time.

This is one way of translating 久しぶり - ‘for the first time in a long time’. It’s quite a mouthful （長い文句）, but can be said fairly quickly if you practice it.

Another way of saying such things in English is to use the present perfect - you have to rearrange your thoughts a little though :

• 久しぶりにすしを食べた。
• I haven’t eaten sushi for a long time.（今食べている場合）
• I hadn’t eaten sushi for a long time.（過去のときに食べた場合）
• It’s been ages since I last ate sushi. （今食べている場合）
• It had been ages since I last ate sushi. （過去のときに食べた場合）
• It’s the first time in a while that I’ve eaten sushi. （今食べている場合）
• It was the first time in a while that I had eaten sushi. （過去のときに食べた場合）

OK. So, let’s try a little translation practise. There are actually a number of different possible answers - you can hear my idea by listening to the audio.

1. この間、久しぶりに東京に行ってきた。
2. 彼に会うのはすごい久しぶりですね。
3. 久しぶりに英語で喋ってみたら、言葉が出てこなかった。
4. 土曜日は、久しぶりにパーテイに行った。

I hope you can now understand how to say 「久しぶり」 in English!