历时 + 时段
taking (so long); lasting; over a span of
Structure
事情 ＋ 历时 ＋ 时段 （＋ 才／终于 …）
What it means
Written Chinese for “lasting” or “taking”: it sums up how long a whole effort or event took, usually a finished one.
How it is built
Event + 历时 + length of time（+ 才／终于…）: 白银案的侦破历时二十八年 (Cracking the Baiyin case took twenty-eight years).
When to use it
Suits reports, news and summaries; 才 or 终于 after it stresses how long it took. In speech say 花了 or 用了…时间. For the gap between two events (“ten years later”) use 时隔十年.
Watch out
No 了 after it: ✗ 历时了三年 ✓ 历时三年. It measures the length of one event, not how long ago something was: ✗ 历时十年，我们又见面了 ✓ 时隔十年，我们又见面了.
Examples
白银案的侦破历时二十八年。
Cracking the Baiyin case took twenty-eight years.
这部词典的编写历时二十年，前后有上百位学者参与。
Compiling the dictionary took twenty years, and over a hundred scholars worked on it.
本次调查历时三个月，覆盖全国三十个省份。
The survey ran for three months and covered thirty provinces.
Learn this in Lesson 194 · HSK 7–9: 二十八年后破案 (Solved after twenty-eight years)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
Open the lesson →