过 (guo): experiential aspect marker

Meanings

1 experiential aspect marker
2 indicates an action that has been experienced at some point in the past

Characters

过

guo

experiential aspect marker

Examples

HSK 1

我去过中国。

Wǒ qù guo Zhōngguó.

I have been to China (at some point).

HSK 5

你吃过北京烤鸭吗？

Nǐ chī guo Běijīng kǎoyā ma?

Have you ever eaten Beijing roast duck?

HSK 6

她学过三年日语。

Tā xué guo sān nián Rìyǔ.

She has studied Japanese for three years (at some point).

Tips

grammar

guo vs le - the most important grammar distinction for past-tense Chinese. 过 = 'have experienced at some point' (any time in the past, the experience is in your résumé but may no longer hold): 我去过北京 (I've been to Beijing - at least once in my life). 了 = 'completed a specific event' (a particular action finished, often recently): 我去了北京 (I went to Beijing - and the trip is done). Rule of thumb: 'have you ever' questions use 过, 'did you finish' uses 了.

mistakes

Place 过 right after the verb, before the object: 我看过这个电影 (I've seen this movie), not 我看这个电影过. Negate with 没 (never 不): 我没去过日本 (I've never been to Japan). Don't confuse this toneless guo with verb guò 'to cross/pass' - same character, different stress and grammar.

Components

radical

辶 chuò

walk; movement (radical form)

Walk-radical wrapping bottom-left - the contracted form of 辵 'walk'. Marks 过 as a movement verb: passing, crossing, going through. The same radical anchors most movement verbs (这, 进, 远, 近, 还). The toneless aspect-particle use (guo, 'have done') extended from 'having gone past it'.

phonetic

寸 cùn

inch; hand-measure (here phonetic)

Top-right 寸 - the simplified replacement for the much more complex 咼 of traditional 過. Supplies the sound: cùn shifted to guò, a substantial drift typical of 1956 reform substitutions. Pure phonetic loan; the inch-measure meaning of 寸 contributes nothing semantically here.