A2
过 — have you ever
How 过 marks experience in Chinese rather than completion, why its negative keeps the 过 when 了 would be dropped, and how it differs from the 了 you already know.
过 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.
我去过中国。
Wǒ qùguo Zhōngguó.
I’ve been to China.
你吃过火锅吗？
Nǐ chīguo huǒguō ma?
Have you had hotpot?
过 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.
我去了中国。
Wǒ qùle Zhōngguó.
I went to China.
我去过中国。
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, 过 is the answer; if they ask what you did last month, 了 is.
The negative keeps the 过
Since 过 is about what has happened, it negates with 没 — and unlike 了, which disappears under a negative, 过 stays put.
我没去过。
Wǒ méi qùguo.
I’ve never been.
我不去过中国。
我没去过中国。
不 negates habits, intentions and states. Whether something has ever happened is always 没 — see 没.
从来没…过 for “never”
从来 makes it emphatic and covers your whole life. It is the natural way to say never.
我从来没听过这首歌。
Wǒ cónglái méi tīngguo zhè shǒu gē.
I’ve never heard this song.
Asking
Both question forms work, and 没有 at the end is the most natural in speech.
你去过日本没有？
Nǐ qùguo Rìběn méiyǒu?
Have you ever been to Japan?
Answer with 去过 or 没去过. As always, there is no word for yes — you repeat the verb.