<p>Technically speaking, 好久不见 and 好久不见了 are both acceptable; <code>了</code> completes the implicit meaning of "no see" as "have not seen" but can be omitted.</p>

<p>IMHO, the two are more or less interchangeable and it is merely a personal preference of which to use (I prefer the later as well). Nevertheless, from my experience, people usually use the former in relatively formal context. As to myself, I use <code>了</code> as a modal particle in this context, as in "Sigh/Wow/Damn, it's been long". I feel that it somehow extends or emphasizes the feeling at the moment. </p>

<p>On a side note, "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_time_no_see" rel="nofollow">long time no see</a>" is commonly believed as originated from Chinese-speaking communities in the States, i.e. it is seen as Chinglish (Please forgive my language).</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-05-06T09:44:58.787Z
2015-05-06T09:44:58.787Z
Thomas Hsieh
<p>As othera have already pointed out, 了doesn't have explicit meaning. It's an exclamation 叹词 marking a statement. There are also exclamation words that mark excitement (啊 呀 呢 吧 啦) or question (吗 呢). Note some words can be used in a question or a statement depending o the tone you said it with… If you are not yet confused at this stage, here are two examples to play with:
我们很久没见了呢！ - long tiime no see!
我们多久没见了呀？- how long has it been?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-05-06T18:44:12.873Z
2015-05-06T18:44:12.873Z
Jessica
<p>Means long time no see,</p>

<p>the "le" doesn' make any sense, 是语气词</p>

<p>语气词是表示语气的虚词，常用在句尾或句中停顿处表示种种语气。常见的语气词有：的、了、么、呢、吧、啊。语气词：附着在词语、句子末了，表示语气。</p>

<p>EDIT: Translation.</p>

<p>the "le" doesn't make any sense, it's a modal word.</p>

<p>Modal words are auxiliary words showing tone, often used at the end of a sentence or in the middle at a pause to show all kinds of tone. Among common tone words there are: de, le, me, ne, ba, a. Modal word: attached to the end of a word or sentence, showing tone.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-05-06T11:33:35.510Z
Maybe you mean the "le" has no meaning but expresses some kind of tone? Otherwise all the last sentence seems disconnected from the "doesn't make any sense" to me…
MickG
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-05-06T17:47:34.340Z
did you read that? And maybe you should convert my toneless pinyin to characters + pinyin with tones...
MickG
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-05-06T10:12:33.600Z
2015-05-06T17:22:45.463Z
2015-05-06T17:22:45.463Z
Jack.li
<p>"Long time no see" is 好久不见 in Mandarin. I would be inclined towards adding a 了 at the end. Would that be all right? And in that case, what does the 了 add?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-05-06T09:07:26.910Z
Absolutely right.The difference is very very very subtle towards to no difference in this context.
sfy
<usage><expressions><particles>
好久不见＋了＝OK or wrong? What does the "le" add?
# 好久不见＋了＝OK or wrong? What does the "le" add?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-05-06)

"Long time no see" is 好久不见 in Mandarin. I would be inclined towards adding a 了 at the end. Would that be all right? And in that case, what does the 了 add?

**Tags:** usage, expressions, particles
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Absolutely right.The difference is very very very subtle towards to no difference in this context.  

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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2015-05-06. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

Technically speaking, 好久不见 and 好久不见了 are both acceptable; `了` completes the implicit meaning of "no see" as "have not seen" but can be omitted.

IMHO, the two are more or less interchangeable and it is merely a personal preference of which to use (I prefer the later as well). Nevertheless, from my experience, people usually use the former in relatively formal context. As to myself, I use `了` as a modal particle in this context, as in "Sigh/Wow/Damn, it's been long". I feel that it somehow extends or emphasizes the feeling at the moment.

On a side note, "[long time no see](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_time_no_see)" is commonly believed as originated from Chinese-speaking communities in the States, i.e. it is seen as Chinglish (Please forgive my language).


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### Answer by username_3 on 2015-05-06. Score: 0

As othera have already pointed out, 了doesn't have explicit meaning. It's an exclamation 叹词 marking a statement. There are also exclamation words that mark excitement (啊 呀 呢 吧 啦) or question (吗 呢). Note some words can be used in a question or a statement depending o the tone you said it with… If you are not yet confused at this stage, here are two examples to play with:
我们很久没见了呢！ - long tiime no see!
我们多久没见了呀？- how long has it been?


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### Answer by username_4 on 2015-05-06. Score: 0

Means long time no see,

the "le" doesn' make any sense, 是语气词

语气词是表示语气的虚词，常用在句尾或句中停顿处表示种种语气。常见的语气词有：的、了、么、呢、吧、啊。语气词：附着在词语、句子末了，表示语气。

EDIT: Translation.

the "le" doesn't make any sense, it's a modal word.

Modal words are auxiliary words showing tone, often used at the end of a sentence or in the middle at a pause to show all kinds of tone. Among common tone words there are: de, le, me, ne, ba, a. Modal word: attached to the end of a word or sentence, showing tone.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Maybe you mean the "le" has no meaning but expresses some kind of tone? Otherwise all the last sentence seems disconnected from the "doesn't make any sense" to me…  
> **username_0**: did you read that? And maybe you should convert my toneless pinyin to characters + pinyin with tones...  

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