What should we say to a friend who has not seen each other for long time? is
long time no see
an appropriate greeting? What is native speakers' greeting in this circumstances?
Yes, long time no see is an appropriate phrase in the situation you described.
See also Wikipedia or TheFreeDictionary
Yes! "Long time no see" is a very commonly used expression. I feel like it is often preceded by hey.
Hey, long time no see!
But "hey" is optional.
Some alternatives include
- (I) haven't seen you in days/weeks/months/years!
- (I) haven't seen you in forever!
- (I) haven't seen you in a long time!
- (I) haven't seen you in ages!
You can also replace "haven't seen you in" with "It's been". For example, if you haven't seen your friend Michael in a very long time, you might say
Michael, it's been a long time!