长 cháng / zhǎng in a sentence
Long (length); Older (chief)
长 (cháng / zhǎng) means Long (length), Older (chief). Below are 24 of the 131 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
大象的鼻子很 长 。
Dàxiàng de bízi hěn cháng.
An elephant's trunk is very long.
Dictionary example · HSK 5 · 大象
这根绳子不够 长 。
Zhè gēn shéngzi bú gòu cháng.
This rope is not long enough.
Dictionary example · HSK 5 · 绳子
对 长 辈要有礼貌。
Duì zhǎngbèi yào yǒu lǐmào.
You should be polite to your elders.
Dictionary example · HSK 5 · 长辈
这位是校 长 夫人。
Zhè wèi shì xiàozhǎng fūrén.
This is the principal's wife.
Dictionary example · HSK 6 · 夫人
Reading these is one thing; producing 长 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
很 长 一段时间，我不会说“不”。
hěn cháng / zhǎng yī duàn shíjiān, wǒ bùhuì shuō" bù".
For a long time I couldn't say no.
Graded reader · HSK 4 · Learning to Say No
超市里的东西很多，我找了很 长 时间。
chāo shì lǐ de / dì dōngxī hěnduō, wǒ zhǎo le / liǎo / liào hěn cháng / zhǎng shíjiān.
There was so much in the shop that it took me ages to find things.
Graded reader · HSK 2 · At the Supermarket
我听完以后，坐在那里很 长 时间说不出话。
wǒ tīngwán yǐhòu, zuò zài nàli hěn cháng / zhǎng shíjiān shuō bùchū huà.
After I heard that I sat there for a long time unable to speak.
Graded reader · HSK 4 · A Misunderstanding
上山的路很 长 ，我们走了三个小时，非常累。
shàngshān de / dì lù hěn cháng / zhǎng, wǒmen zǒule sān gè xiǎoshí, fēicháng lèi / léi / lěi.
The path up was long; we walked three hours and were exhausted.
Graded reader · HSK 2 · A Trip With Friends
我也终于明白，能 长 期做下去的，才叫努力。
wǒ yě zhōngyú míngbai, néng chángqī zuò xiàqu de / dì, cái jiào nǔlì.
And I finally understood that only what you can keep doing counts as effort.
Graded reader · HSK 4 · Facing Pressure
我们说了很 长 时间的话，他还给了我一个橘子。
wǒmen shuōle hěn cháng / zhǎng shíjiān de / dì huà, tā huángěi le / liǎo / liào wǒ yīgè júzi.
We talked for a long time, and he even gave me an orange.
Graded reader · HSK 2 · The Train to Shanghai
那天晚上，我给她发了一条很 长 的消息，向她道歉。
nà / nèi tiān wǎnshang, wǒ gěi tā fā le / liǎo / liào yī tiáo hěn cháng / zhǎng de / dì xiāoxi, xiàng tā dàoqiàn.
That night I sent her a long message apologising.
Graded reader · HSK 4 · A Misunderstanding
From the travel phrasebook
From the grammar library
老师的名字很 长 。
Lǎoshī de míngzi hěn cháng.
The teacher's name is long.
Grammar library · HSK 1 · 的 for possession and description
长 appears in 131 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 长
Each of these has sentences of its own, so you can see the character doing a different job in each one.
Questions about 长
How is 长 used in a sentence?
This page shows 131 sentences using 长 (cháng / zhǎng, "Long (length), Older (chief)"), 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 长 inside a longer word?
Because that is where a single character usually lives. Seeing 长 inside the words it builds is how the character stops being an isolated symbol and starts being something you can read.
Is 长 an HSK word?
Yes — 长 is on the official HSK 2 vocabulary list, and you can study it with the rest of that list on the HSK 2 page.
Where can I see the full entry for 长?
The dictionary page for 长 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 长, write a sentence of your own and check it in the Pinyin Annotator, drill it with HSK 2 flashcards, or search the whole sentence bank for another word.
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