HSK Guide

过去過去 guòqù — the past, formerly

guòqù (fourth tone, falling)guo4qu4

Traditional: 過去

the past, formerly

HSK 3· HSK 1–4 (classic)Level 3· Three-band, nine-level standardnounverb
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Meanings

  1. the past, formerly

    Time already gone, set against 现在 and 以后. Used at the head of a sentence it means "in the old days": 过去他不会说汉语 — he used not to speak Chinese.

    noun

  2. to go over, to go past (away from the speaker)

    verb

    As a movement, 过去 goes away from where the speaker stands and 过来 comes towards it. The 去/来 pair works the same way in 出去 and 出来, 上去 and 上来.

Character breakdown

  • 过過
    guò (fourth tone, falling) guo (neutral tone)

    to cross, to pass by, to go through; to spend (time); to exceed; (unstressed guo) the experiential aspect marker

    6 strokes⿺辶寸Radical 辵

Example sentences

  • 过去他不会说汉语，现在说得很好。過去他不會說漢語，現在說得很好。Guòqù (fourth tone, falling) tā (first tone, high and level) bú (second tone, rising) huì (fourth tone, falling) shuō (first tone, high and level) Hànyǔ, (fourth tone, falling) xiànzài (fourth tone, falling) shuō (first tone, high and level) de (neutral tone) hěn (third tone, dipping) hǎo. (third tone, dipping)···

    He used not to speak Chinese; now he speaks it well.

  • 你从这儿过去，就到银行了。你從這兒過去，就到銀行了。Nǐ (third tone, dipping) cóng (second tone, rising) zhèr (fourth tone, falling) guòqù, (fourth tone, falling) jiù (fourth tone, falling) dào (fourth tone, falling) yínháng (second tone, rising) le. (neutral tone)···

    Go across from here and you come straight to the bank.

Similar words

Words containing 过