久 (jiǔ) means Long time. Below are 24 of the 47 sentences on this site that use it — with pinyin, an English translation and audio. All of them were written by hand; none is machine generated.
Dictionary examples
我们很 久 没见面了。
Wǒmen hěn jiǔ méi jiànmiàn le.
We haven't seen each other for a long time.
Dictionary example · HSK 3 · 久
垃圾放 久 了会臭。
Lājī fàng jiǔ le huì chòu.
Rubbish will stink if left too long.
Dictionary example · HSK 5 · 臭
这种传统很悠 久 。
Zhè zhǒng chuántǒng hěn yōujiǔ.
This tradition goes back a long way.
Dictionary example · HSK 5 · 悠久
开车 久 了容易疲劳。
Kāi chē jiǔ le róngyì píláo.
Driving for a long time makes you tired.
Dictionary example · HSK 5 · 疲劳
这种效果并不持 久 。
Zhè zhǒng xiàoguǒ bìng bù chíjiǔ.
This effect is not lasting at all.
Dictionary example · HSK 6 · 持久
水果放 久 了会腐烂。
Shuǐguǒ fàng jiǔ le huì fǔlàn.
Fruit left too long will rot.
Dictionary example · HSK 6 · 腐烂
坐 久 了腿都麻木了。
Zuò jiǔ le tuǐ dōu mámù le.
After sitting so long his legs went numb.
Dictionary example · HSK 6 · 麻木
我很 久 没跟他见面了。
Wǒ hěn jiǔ méi gēn tā jiànmiàn le.
I haven't met him for a long time.
Dictionary example · HSK 3 · 见面
我等了很 久 ，他才来。
Wǒ děng le hěn jiǔ, tā cái lái.
I waited a long time before he came.
Dictionary example · HSK 3 · 才
我们在海关等了很 久 。
Wǒmen zài hǎiguān děng le hěn jiǔ.
We waited a long time at customs.
Dictionary example · HSK 5 · 海关
Reading these is one thing; producing 久 yourself is another. Cloze in Context takes a sentence from this same bank, removes one word and asks you to put it back — beginner, intermediate and advanced.
From the graded readers
我犹豫了很 久 ，最后还是答应了。
wǒ yóuyù le / liǎo / liào hěn jiǔ, zuìhòu háishì dāying le / liǎo / liào.
I hesitated a long time, and agreed anyway.
Graded reader · HSK 4 · Learning to Say No
后来我发现，自己想出来的东西记得最 久 。
hòulái wǒ fāxiàn, zìjǐ xiǎngchū lái de / dì dōngxī jìde zuì jiǔ.
Later I realised that what you work out yourself is what you remember longest.
Graded reader · HSK 2 · My Chinese Teacher
一只老狗从院子里慢慢走出来，看了我很 久 。
yī zhī lǎo gǒu cóng yuànzi lǐ mànmàn zǒu chūlai, kànle wǒ hěn jiǔ.
An old dog came slowly out of the yard and looked at me for a long time.
Graded reader · HSK 4 · Going Back Home
她看了很 久 ，然后一个一个地告诉我他们是谁。
tā kànle hěn jiǔ, ránhòu yīgè yīgè dì / de gàosu wǒ tāmen shì shéi.
She looked at it for a long time, then told me one by one who they were.
Graded reader · HSK 4 · An Old Photograph
他看了很 久 ，最后只说了一句：“你比以前爱笑了。”
tā kànle hěn jiǔ, zuìhòu zhī shuōle yī jù:" nǐ bǐ yǐqián ài xiào le / liǎo / liào."
He looked around for a long time and in the end said only, "You smile more than you used to."
Graded reader · HSK 4 · Changing Jobs
From the travel phrasebook
久 仰 久 仰。
Jiǔyǎng jiǔyǎng.
I've heard a lot about you.
Travel phrasebook · Meetings and introductions
打算待多 久 ？
Dǎsuàn dāi duō jiǔ?
How long do you plan to stay?
Travel phrasebook · Airport and immigration
空运多 久 到？
Kōngyùn duō jiǔ dào?
How long does air freight take?
Travel phrasebook · Shipping and customs
久 appears in 47 sentences on this site; the 24 shortest and most direct are shown. The rest are on the pages they were written for — the graded readers, the phrasebook and the grammar library.
Words that contain 久
Each of these has sentences of its own, so you can see the character doing a different job in each one.
Questions about 久
How is 久 used in a sentence?
This page shows 47 sentences using 久 (jiǔ, "Long time"), each with pinyin, an English translation and audio. Every one of them was written by hand for this site.
Are these sentences machine generated?
No. They come from the site's own dictionary examples, graded readers, travel phrasebook and grammar library — all written by a person. A word with no sentence gets no page here, rather than a page of invented ones.
Why do some sentences show 久 inside a longer word?
Because that is where a single character usually lives. Seeing 久 inside the words it builds is how the character stops being an isolated symbol and starts being something you can read.
Is 久 an HSK word?
Yes — 久 is on the official HSK 3 vocabulary list, and you can study it with the rest of that list on the HSK 3 page.
Where can I see the full entry for 久?
The dictionary page for 久 has its stroke order, its traditional form, every sense the dictionary lists and a character-by-character breakdown. It is linked at the top of this page.
Keep going
Read the full entry for 久, write a sentence of your own and check it in the Pinyin Annotator, drill it with HSK 3 flashcards, or search the whole sentence bank for another word.
Another word
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