how long been here?

[sio]

I heard a British said to his friend,"How long been here?" What sentence is it as it sounds wierd. If it is O.K., are there any other sentence similar this sentence they use in daily conversation?

Thanks

[BobK]

I heard a British said to his friend,"How long been here?" What sentence is it as it sounds weird. If it is O.K., are there any other sentence similar this sentence they use in daily conversation?

Thanks

The key may be the word "heard". In informal speech the words "have you" are reduced to an unstressed /əvjə/ or even just /vj/. Even if you're looking at the speaker's mouth, this is easy to miss.

Something similar, with auxiliary verbs and all sorts of pronouns, may make you think you're surrounded by such weird sentences.

b