Translation guide
How to express 'a very long time' in Japanese, including common phrases, casual expressions, and formal patterns.
久しぶり！
I haven't seen you for ages!
すごく時間がかかる。
It takes ages.
The speaker wants to emphasize that something took or will take an extremely long time, often with a sense of impatience or exaggeration.
Neutral and widely used for 'for a long time'. Can be used in both spoken and written Japanese.
長い間お待たせしました。
Sorry to have kept you waiting for ages.
長い間会っていなかったね。
We haven't seen each other for ages, have we?
Means 'all along' or 'for a long time continuously'. Very common in casual speech.
ずっと待ってたんだよ。
I've been waiting for ages.
この日をずっと楽しみにしてた。
I've been looking forward to this day for ages.
Literally 'many years', used to emphasize a long duration, similar to 'for ages'.
何年も前の話だよ。
That was ages ago.
何年も会ってないね。
I haven't seen you for ages.
Used as a greeting when you haven't seen someone for a long time. Equivalent to 'Long time no see' or 'It's been ages'.
久しぶり！元気だった？
It's been ages! How have you been?
Formal or written expression for 'for a long time'. Often used in business or official contexts.
長らくご無沙汰しております。
I haven't been in touch for ages.
Referring to something that happened a very long time ago, often with a sense of nostalgia or exaggeration.
Literally 'long ago', a straightforward way to say 'ages ago'.
それはずっと昔の話だ。
That's a story from ages ago.
Means 'ancient times' or 'great antiquity', often used hyperbolically for 'ages ago'.
大昔にそんなことがあったらしい。
Apparently that happened ages ago.
Emphasizes that many years have passed, similar to 'ages ago'.
何年も前に引っ越したよ。
I moved away ages ago.
Complaining or stating that something requires an extremely long time to complete.
Pattern meaning 'it takes time to do ~'. Add とても or すごく for emphasis.
このゲームをクリアするのにすごく時間がかかる。
It takes ages to finish this game.
Pattern indicating that something doesn't happen easily or takes a long time. Often used with verbs like 終わる (finish) or 来る (come).
バスがなかなか来ない。
The bus is taking ages to come.
仕事がなかなか終わらない。
Work is taking ages to finish.
The English word 'ages' is an exaggeration. Japanese has no direct plural equivalent. Use time-related phrases like 長い間 or ずっと instead of trying to translate the word 'ages' itself.