久 (jiǔ): (of a period of time) long

久 (jiǔ) is a Chinese character meaning “(of a period of time) long.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 勹 (structural). It ranks #637 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. (of a period of time) long

Stroke Order

1
2
3

Practice writing 久 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 久

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
好久adjectivehǎo jiǔ(coll.) for a long time3
不久adjectivebù jiǔnot long (after)3
长久adjectivecháng jiǔlong-time5
持久adjectivechí jiǔlasting6
悠久adjectiveyōu jiǔlong (tradition, history etc)5
久远adjectivejiǔ yuǎnlasting5

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
多久adverbduō jiǔ(of time) how long?
永久adjectiveyǒng jiǔeverlasting
久等verbjiǔ děngto wait for a long time
不久前bù jiǔ qiánnot long ago
永久性nounyǒng jiǔ xìngpermanent
久仰verbjiǔ yǎnghonorific: I've long looked forward to meeting you.
前不久adverbqián bù jiǔnot long ago
许久adverbxǔ jiǔfor a long time
久留verbjiǔ liúto stay for a long time
天长地久phrasetiān cháng dì jiǔenduring while the world lasts (idiom)
恒久adjectivehéng jiǔconstant
持久战nounchí jiǔ zhànprolonged war
久违verbjiǔ wéi(haven't done sth) for a long time
久久adverbjiǔ jiǔfor a very long time
久而久之phrasejiǔ ér jiǔ zhīover time
86
Total compounds
34
As first character
30
As last character
36
As middle character

久 appears in 86 compound words: 34 as the first character, 30 as the last, and 36 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Strongest Collocations

Characters that most frequently co-occur with 久 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

悠yōu
0.58417,563 co-occurrences
不bù
0.554129,474 co-occurrences
永yǒng
0.51738,997 co-occurrences
旷kuàng
0.448542 co-occurrences
耐nài
0.4482,456 co-occurrences
佐zuǒ
0.4427,438 co-occurrences
保bǎo
0.42619,662 co-occurrences
后hòu
0.41428,088 co-occurrences
史shǐ
0.39216,658 co-occurrences
很hěn
0.3878,192 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (22)

地久天长dìjiǔtiānchángHSK 3+

alternative form of 天長地久 /天长地久 (tiānchángdìjiǔ)

phrase
好久不见hǎojiǔbùjiànHSK 3+

long time no see

经久不息jīngjiǔbùxīHSK 3+

prolonged; constant; lasting

phrase
久别重逢jiǔ bié chóng féngHSK 7+

to meet again after a long period of separation

phrase
久病成医jiǔbìngchéngyīHSK 3+

experience is the best teacher

phrase
久而久之jiǔ'érjiǔzhīHSK 4+

in the course of time; over a long period of time

phrase
久负盛名jiǔfùshèngmíngHSK 6+

to have a good reputation for a long time

phrase
久假不归jiǔjiǎbùguīHSK 6+

to borrow something and not return it for a long time

phrase
久闻大名jiǔwéndàmíngHSK 3+

I have been looking forward to meeting you for a long time

phrase
久仰大名jiǔyǎngdàmíngHSK 6+

I have been looking forward to meeting you for a long time

phrase
旷日持久kuàngrìchíjiǔHSK 7+

long-drawn-out; protracted

phrase
历久弥新lìjiǔmíxīnHSK 6+

to last long and become even more vigorous as time passes

phrase

Showing 12 of 22 idioms containing 久.

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

久字虽然难写,但意思很有趣。

jiǔ zì suī rán nán xiě , dàn yì sī hěn yǒu qù .

The character "久" may be difficult to write, but its meaning is quite interesting.

99 健康网Feb 2026

...喝了酒对宝宝有没有影响?一次醉酒会造成永久损伤吗

. . . hē le jiǔ duì bǎo bǎo yǒu méi yǒu yǐng xiǎng ? yī cì zuì jiǔ huì zào chéng yǒng jiǔ sǔn shāng ma

... Does drinking alcohol affect the baby? Can a single drunkenness cause permanent damage?

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

发现薇趋势/超商换血 预示就业市场永久性变迁

fā xiàn 薇 qū shì chāo shāng huàn xiě yù shì jiù yè shì chǎng yǒng jiǔ xìng biàn qiān

Discover the trend of Wei Trend/Supermarket exchange indicates permanent changes in the job market

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

彭博示警 缓冲期过后祭301永久措施

彭 bó shì jǐng huǎn chōng qī guò hòu jì 3 0 1 yǒng jiǔ cuò shī

Bloomberg warns of permanent measures to sacrifice 301 after the buffer period

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

美元还能强多久?新台币盘整静待联准会“华许政策”

měi yuán hái néng qiáng duō jiǔ ? xīn tái bì pán zhěng jìng dài lián zhǔn huì huá xǔ zhèng cè

How long can the dollar be strong? The consolidation of the New Taiwan dollar awaits the Federal Reserve's "Huaxu policy"

大紀元 | 大紀元新聞網Feb 2026

从六星连珠回看“七星连珠”久传不衰的影响力

cóng liù xīng lián zhū huí kàn qī xīng lián zhū jiǔ chuán bù shuāi de yǐng xiǎng lì

Looking back at the long-standing influence of the "Seven Star Couplet" from the six-star lineup

Tatoeba

你跟我聊了这么久不知道我叫什么?!

Nǐ gēn wǒ liáo le zhème jiǔ bù zhīdào wǒ jiào shénme?!

You've been talking to me for so long, don't you know my name?!

Tatoeba

这本书我能借多久?

Zhè běn shū wǒ néng jiè duōjiǔ?

How long can I borrow this book?

Tatoeba

你打算在这个国家待多久?

Nǐ dǎsuàn zài zhège guójiā dāi duōjiǔ?

How long do you plan to stay in this country?

Tatoeba

走着去火车站要多久?

Zǒu zhe qù huǒchēzhàn yào duōjiǔ?

How long does it take to walk to the station?

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced jiǔ

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 久 (jiǔ) mean in Chinese?
久 (jiǔ) primarily means "(of a period of time) long." It is classified as HSK Level 3, making it a beginner-level character. It ranks #637 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 久 and 筑?
久 (jiǔ) and 筑 (zhù) are often confused. antonym. The key distinguishing feature: 久 (long) vs 筑 (short).
How many strokes does 久 have?
久 is written with 3 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 久?
The radical associated with 久 is 丿 (slash). This radical appears in many characters related to slash.
What are the components of 久?
久 is composed of: 勹 (structural). Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 久?
Common words with 久 include: 多久 (duō jiǔ, "(of time) how long?"); 好久 (hǎo jiǔ, "(coll.) for a long time"); 不久 (bù jiǔ, "not long (after)"); 长久 (cháng jiǔ, "long-time"); 永久 (yǒng jiǔ, "everlasting"). There are over 86 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 久 (jiǔ)?
Several characters share the pronunciation jiǔ: 就 ((after a suppositional clause) in that case), 究 (research), 九 (nine), 酒 (alcohol), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 久 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 久 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 久 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.