过 (guò) — Past Experience

By the end of this lesson, you will use 过 to express life experience, negate it with 没, and clearly distinguish it from the completion marker 了.

What 过 Expresses

过 (guò) marks past experience — something you have done at least once in your life up to the present moment. It's closely parallel to the English present perfect used for life experience: "I have been to Beijing," "Have you ever tried dim sum?"

The focus is not on when something happened, but on whether it has ever happened.

我去过北京。 (Wǒ qùguo Běijīng.) I have been to Beijing (at some point in my life).

Formation

Subject + Verb + 过 + Object

Chinese	Pinyin	English
我去过北京。	Wǒ qùguo Běijīng.	I've been to Beijing.
她吃过北京烤鸭。	Tā chīguo Běijīng kǎoyā.	She has eaten Peking duck.
他学过日语。	Tā xuéguo Rìyǔ.	He has studied Japanese (before).
我们看过这部电影。	Wǒmen kànguo zhè bù diànyǐng.	We've seen this film.
你住过上海吗?	Nǐ zhùguo Shànghǎi ma?	Have you ever lived in Shanghai?

Note: In natural speech, 过 is often written/pronounced without the falling tone marker — just guo (neutral tone). Both 过 and guo (neutral) are correct.

Negation: 没 + Verb + 过

To say you have never done something, use 没 before the verb. The 过 stays:

Positive	Negative
我去过北京。	我没去过北京。(Wǒ méi qùguo Běijīng.)
他吃过日本料理。	他没吃过日本料理。(Tā méi chīguo Rìběn liàolǐ.)
她学过钢琴。	她没学过钢琴。(Tā méi xuéguo gāngqín.)

我没去过北京。 = I have never been to Beijing. 他没吃过榴莲。 = He has never eaten durian.

Questions with 过

Adding 吗

你去过日本吗? Nǐ qùguo Rìběn ma? — Have you been to Japan? 你吃过饺子吗? Nǐ chīguo jiǎozi ma? — Have you eaten dumplings?

Adding 没有 at the end

你去过日本没有? Nǐ qùguo Rìběn méiyǒu? — Have you been to Japan or not?