Basic Grammar: all 87 lessons free
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V + 过 — Been There, Eaten That
结构助词「过」— 我去过北京、我吃过鸡爪
我去过北京, 我吃过鸡爪, 我看过这个电影: 过 after the verb says you have had the experience — once, some time, and it is over. Ask with 过……吗 / 没有.
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Memory hook
S + V + 过 + O — have had the experience
Have you ever
The deck's three, then its questionnaire. Hear 过 glued to the verb, and 没 in front when the answer is no.
Tap any line to hear it
Been there?去过没有？
No pressure — just making it stick.
我去____北京，很喜欢那里。
Wǒ qù ____ Běijīng, hěn xǐhuan nàlǐ.
I've been to Beijing — I love it there.
Never. Which reply?
Have you been to the Great Wall?
Tap the tiles in order — it checks itself when the sentence is complete. Tap a placed tile to take it back.
Your sentence
我____喝过豆汁儿，听说很难喝。
Wǒ ____ Hē guò dòuzhī ér, tīngshuō hěn nán hē.
I've never had douzhi — I hear it's awful.
Your turn — say it
我看过这个电影。
I've seen this film.
你打过麻将____？——打过。
Nǐ dǎguò májiāng ____? — Dǎ guò.
Have you played mahjong? — I have.
Answer the traveller's questionnaire.
Tap a word to fill the next gap; tap a filled sentence to clear it. Every word is used once.
Word bank
0/5Experiences, in pictures看图说经历
No pressure — just making it stick.
Four experiences from the deck's questionnaire. Match each picture, then say 我……过 or 我没……过.
Tap a picture, then choose its word. Picked wrong? Tap that picture and choose again. Match all the cards to finish.
Your turn — say it
你去过长城吗？——去过。
Have you been to the Great Wall? — I have.
I've never been to Beijing.
Tap the tiles in order — it checks itself when the sentence is complete. Tap a placed tile to take it back.
Your sentence
Your turn — say it
我做过老师，也做过服务员。
I've been a teacher, and a waiter.
This lesson's characters
过 itself, the capital you have been to, and the bean in the drink you tried once.
to pass; (particle) guo — experienced
形meaning + sound
The walking radical 辶 with a sound part: to go past, to cross. 过马路 is to cross the road, 过年 is to pass the New Year, 过去 is the past — what has gone by. As the light guo after a verb it marks what you have passed through: 去过, 吃过, 看过 — experiences, crossed and behind you. A road, and you on the far side of it.
capital
象drawn from life
A tall building on a high mound — the oldest 京 is a tower on raised ground, the same picture that lives in 高. A capital is the high place: 北京 the northern capital, 南京 the southern one, 东京 Tokyo, the eastern capital. 我去过北京 — you have been to the high place in the north.
bean
象drawn from life
A stemmed dish with a lid — the oldest 豆 is a ritual food vessel, tall-footed, seen from the side. The word for the vessel was borrowed for what was eaten from it, and 豆 became bean. 豆腐 is tofu, bean curd; 豆汁儿 the fermented drink; 臭豆腐 the tofu that smells. 你喝过豆汁儿没有？ — the dish became the drink.
Take these with you
Everything worth taking away. Tap any line to hear it.
Words 生词
Characters 汉字
Before you go课后回顾
- Run the deck's questionnaire on yourself — 长城, 臭豆腐, 豆汁儿, 华为, 小米, 麻将, 抖音 — and count your 过s. Then set a target for next year.
- Keep 过 and 了 apart: 我去了北京 tells what happened, 我去过北京 tells who you are. One is a diary; the other is a passport.
- Tell one travel story with three 过s to a Chinese friend and let them quiz you back. That is the deck's pair-work, and it is a real conversation.