过 for past experience
过 after the verb says you have done something at least once at some point in your life. Unlike 了, it stays in place under 没.
Structure
主语 + 动词 + 过 + 宾语（否定：没(有) + 动词 + 过）
Explanation
Chinese words in this text can be activated to show a dictionary gloss.
(unstressed, guo) attaches to the verb and says that the experience exists somewhere in your past: “I’ve been to China.” When it happened usually does not matter — what matters is that it has happened at least once. The negative keeps and adds (): “I’ve never been to China.” This is the clearest difference from the completion , which disappears entirely under . Questions are formed as usual: ？ or ？ A count of times follows directly: . When a definite occasion is named — , — Chinese normally reports the event with instead: tells you about one particular outing, while puts the Great Wall on the list of things you have done. Note that can be used for something that is no longer true (，), which is exactly what makes it an “experience” marker rather than a past tense.
Correct
Say each one out loud before moving on. The audio is a reference pronunciation, not a model to imitate exactly — match the tone contour, not the voice.
我去过中国两次。我去過中國兩次。
Wǒ (third tone, dipping) qùguo (fourth tone, falling) Zhōngguó (first tone, high and level) liǎng (third tone, dipping) cì. (fourth tone, falling)···
I’ve been to China twice.
你吃过北京烤鸭吗？你吃過北京烤鴨嗎？
Nǐ (third tone, dipping) chīguo (first tone, high and level) Běijīng (third tone, dipping) kǎoyā (third tone, dipping) ma? (neutral tone)···
Have you ever had Peking duck?
他没看过这部电影。他沒看過這部電影。
Tā (first tone, high and level) méi (second tone, rising) kànguo (fourth tone, falling) zhè (fourth tone, falling) bù (fourth tone, falling) diànyǐng. (fourth tone, falling)···
He’s never seen this film.
Incorrect — Common mistakes
These sentences are wrong. They are printed here on purpose, each one paired with the repair and the reason, because the error you can recognise is the error you stop making.
Not quite
Incorrect sentence: 我没去过了中国。
Correct
Correct sentence: 我没去过中国。
Why: 过 and 了 are two different aspect markers and do not stack. In the negative, 过 is the one that stays.
Not quite
Incorrect sentence: 你去过中国了吗？
Correct
Correct sentence: 你去过中国吗？
Why: The question is about experience, and 过 already asks it. Adding 了 turns it into a different question about a change of situation.
Not quite
Incorrect sentence: 我昨天看过这部电影。
Correct
Correct sentence: 我昨天看了这部电影。
Why: Once a definite occasion is named, the sentence reports an event and takes 了. 过 belongs to experience that is not pinned to a date.
Compared with
Most errors with this pattern are not errors about this pattern — they are a neighbouring pattern arriving at the wrong moment. Read these side by side.
Both markers sit right after the verb and both point backwards, so learners treat them as one. 了 reports that a particular action was carried through — often with a quantity attached: 我吃了两个包子. 过 reports that the action belongs to your experience, without tying it to any occasion: 我吃过包子 “I’ve had steamed buns before.” The negatives make the difference visible: 我没吃包子 “I didn’t eat (them)” versus 我没吃过包子 “I’ve never eaten them.” The 了 vanishes, the 过 stays.
了 for a completed action →Mini quiz
Question 1 / 3Total score: 0
Choose the form that fits: “I’ve been to Beijing twice.”
我 ___ 北京两次。