Is The Sentence Correct? | Long Time No See | Grammar

 “Is The Sentence Correct”? 
“Long Time No See”!

Prelude:

“Non-English speakers” start learning their "English language" with the subject called "GRAMMAR" as the first step.

Dear reader, this world is very strange! Do you know why I started with this weird phrase? Don't worry, keep reading; you will surely understand. I firmly believe that most of the readers of this blog are “non-English speakers”. I want to say that English is not their "mother tongue".They speak other languages than English. I also believe that in most countries this "English language" is also taught alongside your mother tongue. We may not know English well; we may not speak it well; we may not write it correctly, but by reading almost anything, we can clearly understand which one is the verb, which is a noun, which is a pronoun, etc. From the beginning of learning English, we are taught "Grammar".

  

“A piece of grammar”

We all know for a fact that every sentence has a subject and a predicate. And even if there is nothing, there must at least be a verb. Our teachers always say that no sentence can be formed without a verb. Why only the "English language"? We also know that the same rule applies to our own “mother tongue”. We know that nothing can be said without using verbs.

I don't have the audacity to teach "grammar" to anyone. It's just to remind you that the verb is the main part of a sentence. A verb is a word that does some action. For example, I may say, "I sleep." Clearly, a subject and a verb are present in this sentence. It is a complete sentence. But the verb means to work, to do something. Do you work while you sleep? Please don't upset me with such a silly question. Sleeping is indeed working. You perform the most important piece of work while you sleep. And to be more precise, the best work is sleeping.

 Now let’s get back to our subject. We all know that "Wikipedia" is recognized as the seventh most admired website in the world. If necessary, we all access Uncle Wikipedia with the help of Aunt Google. He is a reliable and competent authority. Everyone is very respectful towards him. One day while hanging out with Aunt Google, I suddenly noticed some bold letters shining on the wall. "Long time no see."

https://www.pexels.com/photo/brown-wooden-blocks-on-white-surface-9496596/

“Is The Sentence Correct”? Do we know “Grammar” at all?

I think it would be better if I post the exact quote here from Wikipedia. 

Here's the link for your information. 

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_time_no_see

I don't know much English myself, but based on what I do know, I can say with conviction that whatever that phrase or sentence is (I'm not sure!), there is something wrong with it. Assuming it as a sentence, I couldn't clearly understand which the subject was, which the predicate was, and which the verb was. Therefore, without spending any time further I began to read the article. And the more I read, the more I was surprised! I saw that the sentence (yes, it's a sentence) has also been used in “English literature”. Even more surprises were waiting for me! Many more surprises! I saw that the phrase managed to secure its presence even on the pages of the “Oxford English Dictionary”! [OED]!

I hurried back to Aunt Google to check if she had anything else like that in her inventory, and she gave me this.

“Long time no talk”: It means that it has been a long time since we talked with each other. It's a just variation of an older phrase—"Long time, no see." It means, we haven't met each for a long period of time. It’s used as an idiom accepted and used in all places. So it can be seen clearly enough that the phrase has established its existence in the “English language” so firmly that it even has a twin!

Do you think native English speakers use this in their everyday conversations? 

What other English-speaking countries use this particular idiomatic expression?

After doing some research, I found the following results.

• "Long time no see!" In the UK this phrase is normally used.
• It's informal. I am not sure about how widespread its use is but I expect most People of the United Kingdom use it on their social sites.
• Yes, we use it commonly.
• In the US, it's not an uncommon phrase.
• It is very common but informal in American English. But it is considered an idiomatic expression. 
• We use it in Ireland as well.
• "Long time no see!" is quite common in American English.

"Long time no see!" from my perspective: 

It is worth noting that there are several opinions about the origin of this phrase. I think it is better not to overburden our thoughts with the origin of this sentence. But as soon as I read this sentence, what comes to my mind is that someone is trying to convey a thought in the English language by uttering two separate sentences together. Most likely, it is a sentence composed by a “non-English speaker”. It looks like a non-English speaker is trying hard to get his point across. Hearing that weird expression, the listener was so amused that he continued telling the story to all his neighbors. And those neighbors in return loved the incident so much that they too repeated the same story with their neighbors. And that kept happening for a long period of time and became an interesting topic of gossip. Over a period of time, they almost memorized the phrase and it gradually turned into a set phrase of the native speakers.

In my opinion, the phrase 'long time' perhaps represents a longer phrase: i.e. 'It's been a long time'';  and the phrase 'no see’ may mean 'not meeting with each other.' If these two phrases are put together, the meaning is almost like, "Many days passed since I met you".

There are two phrases:

a) 'it's been a long time' &

b) 'we haven't seen each other'

And now if these two phrases are added together we get. ‘It's been a long time' [and] 'we haven't seen each other'

By the way, you may not agree with my explanation, but I have to express my opinion, right?

I hope to hear your opinion in the comment box below.

Epilogue

By reading this strange sentence structure and this scarce article, one can clearly understand that we need to learn English grammar well, read a lot of content in English, and speak English as much as possible. However, these things have to be done, but our work is not finished there. We have to listen to countless "set phrases" used by "native English speakers" throughout our lives and memorize them. Set phrases mean prefabricated phrases or ready-made phrases. Even if you don't like the activity, still you have to do it. Even if the phrases are sometimes grammatically incorrect, they must be accepted. And they must be applied in practical life as well.

Therefore, a sentence should not be checked for grammatical correctness alone. At the same time, it should also be taken into account whether it sounds natural to native English speakers. And this is the most important factor in learning the “English language”. It should be considered seriously.  

So no more today, very soon I will appear before you again with a solution to a new grammar problem. Until then, keep watching good English videos, read good books, try to speak English well, and learn to love the "English language".

Thank you!

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Please let me know if you have got any suggestions or comments, and if you are generous enough please share these articles with your friends. 🙏🙏