Lesson 20
The particle 过 (guò) is used to show if an action happened before and to inquire about past experiences. You’ll remember from previous lessons that there are no tenses in Chinese (the verbs stay unchanged). Instead time expressions and particles indicate when something occurred. In this regard, 过 shares similarities with the present perfect tense in English in conveying past experiences.
Instead of including lots of unnecessary explanation, this lesson like many of the Grammar ones, is focused on providing many example sentences so that you can understand exactly how the 过 is used through observation and practice.
New vocabulary
| 已经 | yǐjīng | already |
| 试 | shì | to try |
| 见 | jiàn | to see |
| 从来(没有） | cónglái（méiyǒu） | never |
| 有没有 | yǒuméiyǒu | (question word) have/did…? |
| 但是 | dànshì | but |
| 日语 | rìyǔ | Japanese |
| 英语 | yīngyǔ | English |
| 住 | zhù | to live |
（一）Basic use of 过
subject + verb + 过 + object
1. 我吃过这家饭店的菜。
(wǒ chī guò zhè jiā fàndiàn de cài.)
I have eaten some dishes at this restaurant before.
2. 我也去过那家新书店。
(wǒ yě qù guò nà jiā xīnshūdiàn.)
I have also been to that new bookstore.
3. 我和我的家人去过日本。
(wǒ hé wǒ de jiārén qù guò rìběn.)
My family and I have been to Japan.
（二）Topic-prominent sentences with 过
In these sentences the main point of the sentence (topic) comes first. This may be used to draw attention to it.
topic + subject + verb + 过
4. 韩国菜我也吃过。
(hánguó cài wǒ yě chī guò.)
I have also eaten Korean food.
5.那条牛仔裤我试过，它太大了。
(nà tiáo niúzǎikù wǒ shì guò, tā tài dà le.)
I have tried on those jeans; they are too big.
6. 那本书我已经看过。
(nà běn shū wǒ yǐjīng kàn guò.)
I have already read that book.
（三）Using 没 to negate 过
没 is commonly used for various types of negation. Note that 没 can be swapped for 没有 for emphasis.
subject+ 没 + verb + 过 + object
7. 我没看过那部电影。
(wǒ méi kàn guò nà bù diànyǐng.)
I haven’t watched that movie before.
8. 我没有见过他。
(wǒ méiyǒu jiànguò tā.)
I have not seen him before.
9. 他学过日语，但是没学过英语。
(tā xué guò rìyǔ, dànshì méi xué guò yīngyǔ.)
He has learned Japanese, but he hasn’t learned English.
（四）Expressing never (从来没有)
By adding 从来 before the negation, we can emphasize that something has never happened.
subject + 从来没有 + verb + 过 + object
10. 我的姥姥从来没有喝过葡萄酒。
(wǒ de lǎolao cónglái méiyǒu hē guò pútaojiǔ.)
My grandma has never had wine before.
11. 我的爷爷是中国人，但是我爸爸从来没有去过中国。
(wǒ de yéyé shì zhōngguó rén, dànshì wǒ bàba cónglái méiyǒu qù guò zhōngguó.)
My grandpa is Chinese, but my dad has never been to China.
12. 我吃过饺子，但是从来没有吃过火锅。
(wǒ chī guò jiǎozi, dànshì cónglái méiyǒu chī guò huǒguō.)
I have eaten dumplings, but I have never eaten hotpot.
（五）Asking questions with 过
subject + verb + 过 + object + 吗？
13. 你吃过中国菜吗？
(nǐ chī guò zhōngguó cài ma?)
Have you ever eaten Chinese food?
14. 你喝过豆浆吗？
(nǐ hē guò dòujiāng ma?)
Have you drank soy milk?
15. 你去过北京吗？
(nǐ qù guò běijīng ma?)
Have you ever been to Beijing?
subject + 有没有 + verb + 过 + object？
16. 你有没有去过那家电影院？
(nǐ yǒu méiyǒu qù guò nà jiā diànyǐngyuàn?)
Have you ever been to that cinema?
17. 你有没有看过我的画儿？
(nǐ yǒu méiyǒu kàn guò wǒ de huàr?)
Have you ever seen my painting?
18. 你有没有听过那首歌？
(nǐ yǒu méiyǒu tīng guò nà shǒu gē?)
Have you ever heard that song?
subject + verb + 没 + verb + obj？
19. 你去没去过中国？
(nǐ qù méi qùguò zhōngguó?)
Have you been to China?
20. 你学没学过日语？
(nǐ xué méi xué guò rìyǔ?)
Have you studied Japanese?
21. 你喝没喝过这家咖啡馆的咖啡？
(nǐ hē méi hē guò zhèjiā kāfēiguǎn de kāfēi?)
Have you tried the coffee at this coffee shop?
subject + 为什么 + 没（有）+ verb + 过？
22. 他为什么没有喝过咖啡？
(tā wèishénme méi yǒu hē guò kāfēi?)
Why has he never had coffee?
23. 这件外套非常好看。你为什么没穿过？
(zhè jiàn wàitào fēicháng hǎokàn. nǐ wèishénme méi chuān guò?)
This jacket looks very nice. Why haven’t you worn it?
24. 你想住在美国？那你为什么没学过英语？
(nǐ xiǎng zhù zài měiguó? nà nǐ wèishénme méi xué guò yīngyǔ?)
You want to live in the United States? Then why haven’t you studied English?
Check your understanding
Determine which of the two sentences correctly conveys what is being said in the English sentence.
What you’ve learnt
You’ve just learnt Chinese how to use 过 to talk and ask about past experiences. I hope you enjoyed the first grammar focused lesson in this series. If you would like to see grammar specific lessons visit the Grammar section.
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