过
Pattern
Subject + verb + 过 + object
Key words
Core idea
过 after a verb marks that someone has had an experience before. It answers the question “has this ever happened in someone’s life?”
The focus is experience, not a specific completed event.
Compare with completed action
Completed-action 了 often presents one event as done in a particular situation. Experience 过 says the event has happened before at least once.
Examples
我去过台北。
Wǒ qù guo Táiběi.
I have been to Taipei.
你吃过臭豆腐吗？
Nǐ chī guo chòu dòufu ma?
Have you ever eaten stinky tofu?
她没看过这部电影。
Tā méi kàn guo zhè bù diànyǐng.
She has not seen this movie before.
Common mistakes
Avoid
我去台北过。
Use
我去过台北。
The experience marker 过 follows the verb directly.
Seen in stories
Even the Security Guard Danced
连财务姐姐都笑了，说这首歌救过三次报表。
Even the finance colleague laughs and says this song saved three reports.
The Book That Took the Mountain Train
学生很不好意思，因为他从来没离那座山这么近过。
The student is embarrassed because he has never been this close to that mountain before.
The Customer Who Came Back Late
他说自己二十年前来过这里，还借过这本小说。
He says he came here twenty years ago and borrowed this novel before.
The Customer Who Came Back Late
他说自己二十年前来过这里，还借过这本小说。
He says he came here twenty years ago and borrowed this novel before.
The Customer Who Came Back Late
老板娘没见过他，却认得书里的老书签。
The owner has not met him before, but she recognizes the old bookmark in the book.
Show 7 more story examples
The Customer Who Came Back Late
客人说他年轻时搬过家，也生过病，后来一直没回来。
The customer says when he was young he moved house and was ill, and later never came back.
The Customer Who Came Back Late
客人说他年轻时搬过家，也生过病，后来一直没回来。
The customer says when he was young he moved house and was ill, and later never came back.
The Customer Who Came Back Late
他在别的城市开过小店，却总记得这本书的结尾。
He ran a small shop in another city before, but always remembered the ending of this book.
The Customer Who Came Back Late
客人拿起笔，说：“我答应过自己，要把它写完。”
The customer picks up a pen and says, “I promised myself I would finish writing it.”
The Customer Who Came Back Late
那天晚上，书店已经过了关门时间很久，可灯还亮着。
That night, the bookshop is long past closing time, but the light is still on.
The Four-Word Toast
他准备过很长的稿子，可是现在一句也想不出来。
He has prepared a long speech before, but now cannot think of a single sentence.
The Midnight Sign-Off
过了几秒，一个毕业生说自己以前躲在图书馆后面听过他们。
After a few seconds, a graduate says he used to hide behind the library and listen to them.