Expressing experiences with verbs

The aspect particle 过 is used to indicate that an action has been experienced in the past. The structure is:

Subject + Verb + 过 + Object

What this expresses is that the verb has been done at least once before, without specifying a particular time. 过 is used to talk about whether something has ever happened - whether it has been experienced.

Some examples:

• 我 去 过 中国。
• 他 吃 过 小笼包。
• 你 看 过 那 个 人 吗？

Negating a 过 sentence

Because 过 is used to talk about past actions, it should be negated with 没. The structure is:

Subject + 没 + Verb + 过 + Object

Some examples:

• 我 没 去 过 中国。
• 他 没 听 过 这 首 歌。
• 你 没 尝 过 这 种 啤酒。

Sources and further reading

Books

• Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar: A Practical Guide (pp. 76-77, 230-232)
• 外国人实用汉语语法(中英文对照) (pp. 138)
• 简明汉语语法学习手册 (pp. 73-74)

Websites

• ChinesePod: Qing Wen - 过(guo) (free podcast content)