久 jiǔ (of a period of time) long Example sentences 他什么时候回来?他出去很久了。 tā shénme shíhou huílai? tā chūqù hěn jiǔ le. When will he come back? He went out for a long time 很久以前我去过日本旅游。 hěn jiǔ yǐqián wǒ qù guò rìběn lǚyóu. I have been to Japan a long time ago