How to Say ‘How long does it take?’ in Simplified Chinese
要多久？
yào duō jiǔ
[yaow dwor-jyoh]
💬 Usage Tip: [要多久？] literally asks 'need how long?' Chinese often uses [要] this way for time needed: [到北京要多久？] 'How long to get to Beijing?'.
Phrase Breakdown
要
yào
[yaow]
to need; to want; to take (time)
In this phrase, 要 asks about the amount of time needed or taken.
到机场要四十分钟。
It takes forty minutes to get to the airport.
多久
duō jiǔ
[dwor-jyoh]
how long
多久 is used to ask about duration or length of time.
从这里到火车站要多久？
How long does it take from here to the train station?
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