Question

Posted by rfvv on Monday, August 25, 2014 at 4:45am.



1. It's been a long time.
2. It's been a while.
3. I haven't seen you for a while.
4. Long time no see.
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Are they all the same in meaning?
Does 'a while' mean ' a long time' or 'a short time'?•English - Writeacher, Monday, August 25, 2014 at 9:14am
All mean about the same thing, yes.

'A while' is indefinite, but usually implies a long time.

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5. I haven't seen you for a while.
6. I haven't seen you in a while.
7. I haven't seen you for a long time.
8. I haven't seen you in a long time.
9. Long time no see.

(Are they all the same in meaning and grammatical? Do you use the preposition 'in' in this case?

Answer 1

Yes, they all mean much the same thing, and we do use either "in" or "for" in this instance. The meaning is, technically, somewhat different, but not in practice.