Breakdown of Она тоже соскучилась и сказала, что, похоже, мы давно не виделись.
Questions & Answers about Она тоже соскучилась и сказала, что, похоже, мы давно не виделись.
Because the subject is она (she), which is feminine. In the past tense, Russian verbs agree in gender and number:
- он соскучился (masc.)
- она соскучилась (fem.)
- оно соскучилось (neut.)
- они соскучились (pl.)
Соскучилась is the past tense of соскучиться. It means to start missing someone/something; to feel that you miss someone/something.
It’s commonly used about missing people after not seeing them:
- Я соскучился по тебе = I missed you / I’ve been missing you.
It’s optional if the context already makes it obvious. The sentence implies she missed the speaker / the group without stating it explicitly. You could add it:
- Она тоже по вам соскучилась… = She missed you (plural/formal) too…
- Она тоже по тебе соскучилась… = She missed you too…
тоже means also / too. Here it means she also missed (someone), i.e., not only the speaker missed her.
Word order is flexible:
- Она тоже соскучилась (neutral, common)
- Она соскучилась тоже (more emphasis on too)
- Тоже она соскучилась… (possible, but less neutral)
They describe two completed events in the past: she felt she missed (someone) and she said something. In narratives, Russian often chains past actions like this:
- Она … и сказала… = She … and said…
Because что introduces an indirect statement (a content clause), similar to that in English:
- сказала, что … = said (that) …
In English, that can be dropped, but in Russian что is typically required.
Here похоже functions like a parenthetical introductory word meaning apparently / it seems / looks like. It’s not acting as a normal main verb in this sentence.
It comments on the whole statement мы давно не виделись:
- что, похоже, мы давно не виделись ≈ that apparently we hadn’t seen each other in a long time
Because похоже is inserted as a parenthetical/introductory word (like apparently / it seems in English). Russian punctuation often sets these off with commas:
- что, похоже, … = that, apparently, …
If you remove похоже, the core grammar stays:
- … сказала, что мы давно не виделись.
давно means a long time ago / for a long time / long depending on context.
With не виделись (a past-tense idea), it means for a long time (up to now):
- Мы давно не виделись. = We haven’t seen each other in a long time.
It comes from видеться = to see each other / to meet (and see one another), which is a reflexive/reciprocal verb.
So:
- мы виделись = we saw each other / we met
- мы не виделись = we didn’t see each other / we haven’t seen each other
It’s the natural way to say “see each other,” not the literal видеть.
Because Мы давно виделись usually means We saw each other a long time ago (i.e., the meeting happened long ago).
But Мы давно не виделись means We haven’t seen each other in a long time (emphasizing the long gap up to now). That’s what this context wants.
Yes, it’s often omitted because the verb ending already shows “we”:
- … что, похоже, давно не виделись.
This can sound slightly more conversational. Keeping мы is also completely normal and can add clarity/emphasis.
Both are good. Мы давно не виделись corresponds naturally to either:
- We haven’t seen each other in a long time, or
- It’s been a long time since we saw each other.
With похоже, you also get:
- …that apparently it had been a long time since we’d seen each other.