Learn English – Is it possible to use “after a long time” or “after a long interval” this way

phrase-usage

I'd like to know if these two phrases "after a long time" and "after a long interval", which I often find in Japanese-English dictionaries, are used a lot.

I don't want to specify how much time has passed since I did something. So instead of saying

It's been a long time since I had sushi.
or
It's been a while since I saw my high school teacher last time.

is it possible to say

I had sushi after a long time / after a long interval.
or
I saw my high school teacher after a long time / after a long interval.

I haven't seen these expressions a lot except for Japanese-English dictionaries. My question is if these phrases are commonly used in the way I wrote above.

Also I have one more question: if I say, "I had sushi for the first time in a long time" does it sound natural?

Best Answer

It's not common to use "after a long interval" to mean "after a long time." Your sentence "I had sushi for the first time in a long time" sounds perfectly natural.

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