过: experiential aspect
过 placed directly after the verb records that something was experienced at some past point — the exact time doesn't matter.
> 我去过北京。(I have been to Beijing — at some point.)
Key contrasts:
- 了 = completed action: 我去了北京。(I went to Beijing — specific trip)
- 过 = life-experience: 我去过北京。(I have been — ever)
Negation: 没(有) + V + 过 ✅ ❌ 不过
Question form: V + 过 + 吗 / V + 过 + 没有
Worked examples
| Chinese | Pinyin | English | What it shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| 你吃过北京烤鸭吗？ | Nǐ chī guò Běijīng kǎoyā ma? | Have you ever eaten Peking duck? | Experience question: V过吗 = have you ever … |
| 我没去过那个地方，不太了解。 | Wǒ méi qù guò nà ge dìfāng, bù tài liǎojiě. | I've never been to that place, so I don't know much about it. | Negation 没去过 + consequence |
| 他以前当过老师，后来改行做了医生。 | Tā yǐqián dāng guò lǎoshī, hòulái gǎiháng zuò le yīshēng. | He used to be a teacher; later he changed careers and became a doctor. | 过 for former experience; 了 for the subsequent completed change |
What you need first
Every topic in GraphChinese names its own prerequisites, and these are the grammar points this one is built on. If a sentence here will not parse, one of them is why.
The same pattern at other levels
- Experiential Aspect 过 — HSK 2
过 is one topic of 829. GraphChinese teaches them in prerequisite order, so this pattern reaches you on the day everything it rests on is proven. The whole course, HSK 0 through HSK 6, is $49 once for lifetime access.
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