iNdiCatiNG ComPletioN aNd talkiNG aBoUt the PaSt
37.6- when talking about actions that are repeatable. Actions that are not repeatable cannot be
suffixed with 过/過 guo.
Do not say*她大学毕业过。
她大學畢業過。
Tā dàxué bìyè guò.
intended: She has graduated from university before.
C13.2, 17.3The suffix 过/過 guo and perfective 了 le can sometimes occur together in the same sentence.
When they do, 过/過 guo always occurs before 了 le.今天的报我已经看过了。
今天的報我已經看過了。
Jīntiān de bào wǒ yǐjing kànguo le.
I’ve already read today’s paper.长城我已经登过了。
長城我已經登過了。
Chángchéng wǒ yǐjing dēngguo le.
I have already climbed the Great Wall.To indicate that an action has never been experienced before, precede the [prepositional
phrase +] verb phrase with 没/沒 méi or 没有/沒有 méi yǒu and follow the verb with 过/過
guo as follows:没/沒(有) méi (yǒu) + verb 过/過 guo我没吃过中国饭。
我沒吃過中國飯。
Wǒ méi chīguo Zhōngguó fàn.
I have never eaten Chinese food before.他没坐过飞机。
他沒坐過飛機。
Tā méi zuòguo fēijī.
He has never ridden on a plane before.When talking about events that have never been experienced before, the adverb 从来/從來
cónglái ‘in the past’ often occurs before the verb for additional emphasis:我从来没吃过中国饭。
我從來沒吃過中國飯。
Wǒ cónglái méi chīguo Zhōngguó fàn.
I have never eaten Chinese food before.Note 从来/從來 cónglái is only used in negative sentences.