A2
過 — have you ever
How 過 marks experience in Chinese rather than completion, why its negative keeps the 過 when 了 would be dropped, and how it differs from the 了 you already know.
過 after a verb says you have done it at some point. Not when, not how it went — only that it is somewhere in your history.
我去過中國。
Wǒ qùguo Zhōngguó.
I’ve been to China.
你吃過火鍋嗎？
Nǐ chīguo huǒguō ma?
Have you had hotpot?
過 is toneless here. It is the same character as the verb to pass, said guò, which is worth knowing so the two do not look like a coincidence: an experience is something you have passed through.
Against 了
The two answer different questions, and the difference is not one of time.
我去了中國。
Wǒ qùle Zhōngguó.
I went to China.
我去過中國。
Wǒ qùguo Zhōngguó.
I’ve been to China.
The first reports one trip and, without more context, suggests it is still relevant — you may even still be there. The second says China is on the list of places you have been, and implies you came back. If someone asks whether you know what hotpot is like, 過 is the answer; if they ask what you did last month, 了 is.
The negative keeps the 過
Since 過 is about what has happened, it negates with 沒 — and unlike 了, which disappears under a negative, 過 stays put.
我沒去過。
Wǒ méi qùguo.
I’ve never been.
我不去過中國。
我沒去過中國。
不 negates habits, intentions and states. Whether something has ever happened is always 沒 — see 沒.
從來沒…過 for “never”
從來 makes it emphatic and covers your whole life. It is the natural way to say never.
我從來沒聽過這首歌。
Wǒ cónglái méi tīngguo zhè shǒu gē.
I’ve never heard this song.
Asking
Both question forms work, and 沒有 at the end is the most natural in speech.
你去過日本沒有？
Nǐ qùguo Rìběn méiyǒu?
Have you ever been to Japan?
Answer with 去過 or 沒去過. As always, there is no word for yes — you repeat the verb.