過 vs 了: Talking About Experience and Completion

過 (guò) after a verb says you have done it at least once in your life. 了 (le) says an action is finished. 我去過台灣 means “I have been to Taiwan” (at some point). 我昨天去了夜市 means “I went to the night market yesterday” (a specific trip, now done). Ask yourself whether you are reporting an experience or reporting an event, and the choice usually makes itself.

This guide is the standalone answer to that question. The TOCFL Band A aspect markers guide covers 了 and 過 in one section among other patterns. Here we stay with the pair, including negation and the colloquial 有…過 you will hear in Taiwan.

The short version

	過 (guò)	了 (le)
Says	The experience exists	The action was completed
Typical question	你去過台灣嗎？ Have you ever been to Taiwan?	你去了哪裡？ Where did you go?
Time	Optional, often unspecified (“ever”)	Often a specific time
Negation	沒(有)…過	沒(有)…, with no 了

過: the experience exists

過 attaches directly to the verb and says that the event has happened to the subject at least once, at some point before now. It does not say when, and it does not say the event is relevant to the moment of speaking.

• 我去過台灣。 (Wǒ qù guò Táiwān.) I have been to Taiwan.
• 你吃過臭豆腐嗎？ (Nǐ chī guò chòudòufu ma?) Have you ever eaten stinky tofu?
• 她學過三年日文。 (Tā xué guò sān nián Rìwén.) She has studied Japanese for three years (at some point; she is not necessarily studying it now).
• 我看過這部電影。 (Wǒ kàn guò zhè bù diànyǐng.) I have seen this film.

The reading matters. 過 as a post-verb experience marker is guò (MOE 國語辭典: ㄍㄨㄛˋ), the same reading as 過 in 過年 or 經過. The other reading, guō, is a surname and does not apply here.

過 suits things you could do more than once: travel, eat, watch, meet, try. That is why it feels natural in conversation openers such as 你去過台南嗎？ and 你吃過這個嗎？

Negating 過: 沒…過

The negative of experience is 沒 (or 沒有) before the verb, with 過 kept after it.

• 我沒去過台灣。 (Wǒ méi qù guò Táiwān.) I have never been to Taiwan.
• 我從來沒看過雪。 (Wǒ cóng lái méi kàn guò xuě.) I have never seen snow.
• ✗ 我不去過台灣。 Ungrammatical. 不 does not combine with 過.

從來 (cóng lái, “from before until now”) sits before 沒 and makes the “never” explicit. It is the usual way to say “never” in this pattern. The wider rule for 不 and 沒 is in 不 vs 沒 explained.

了: the action was completed

了 comes in two positions. After a verb it marks that the action reached completion. At the end of a sentence it marks a change of situation or a state that now holds. The full picture is on the 了 particle page. For this comparison, the verb-final 了 is the one that stands against 過.

• 我昨天去了夜市。 (Wǒ zuótiān qù le yèshì.) I went to the night market yesterday.
• 他買了兩杯珍珠奶茶。 (Tā mǎi le liǎng bēi zhēnzhū nǎichá.) He bought two cups of bubble tea.
• 我吃了早餐就出門。 (Wǒ chī le zǎocān jiù chūmén.) I leave after I have eaten breakfast.

Notice that 了 often travels with a specific time (昨天), a quantity (兩杯) or a following clause. A bare 我買了書 tends to sound unfinished in Chinese, and a listener waits for the rest. 過 has no such need: 我買過書 is complete.

Negating 了: no 了 at all

When you negate a completed action, 了 disappears.

• 我昨天沒去夜市。 (Wǒ zuótiān méi qù yèshì.) I did not go to the night market yesterday.
• ✗ 我昨天沒去了夜市。 Ungrammatical.
• 我還沒吃早餐。 (Wǒ hái méi chī zǎocān.) I have not eaten breakfast yet.

過 and 了 in one sentence

The two can sit in the same sentence. 吃過飯了 combines them and means “I have already eaten”.

• 你吃過飯了嗎？ (Nǐ chī guò fàn le ma?) Have you eaten yet?
• 我吃過了。 (Wǒ chī guò le.) I have already eaten.
• 我去過了，不想再去。 (Wǒ qù guò le, bù xiǎng zài qù.) I have been already and don’t want to go again.

Here 過 carries a completion sense (done with it) and the final 了 marks that this is now the case. Learners often meet this in the question 你吃過飯了嗎？, which asks whether someone has already eaten.

Same verb, two meanings

A single verb phrase can take either marker and mean different things. These pairs are the ones to practise.

• 他學了三年中文。 (Tā xué le sān nián Zhōngwén.) He studied Chinese for three years. A completed stretch of study, which the context frames.
• 他學了三年中文了。 (Tā xué le sān nián Zhōngwén le.) He has been studying Chinese for three years (and still is). The sentence-final 了 is the difference.
• 他學過中文。 (Tā xué guò Zhōngwén.) He has studied Chinese at some point.
• 我住過台中。 (Wǒ zhù guò Táizhōng.) I have lived in Taichung (once, and I no longer do).
• 我住在台中。 (Wǒ zhù zài Táizhōng.) I live in Taichung. No marker; this is simply a present state.

If you want to give an experience with detail, many speakers pair the two: 我去過台灣，去年去了台南。 (I have been to Taiwan; last year I went to Tainan.) The first clause states the experience, the second reports one event inside it.

The Taiwan habit: 有…過

In Taiwan conversation, 有 often appears before the verb with 過 kept after it.

• 你有去過台南嗎？ (Nǐ yǒu qù guò Táinán ma?) Have you been to Tainan?
• 有啊，我有去過。 (Yǒu a, wǒ yǒu qù guò.) Yes, I have.
• 我沒有去過。 (Wǒ méi yǒu qù guò.) I haven’t.

Treat 有去過 as colloquial. It is everywhere in spoken Taiwan Mandarin, but 去過 is the form to use in writing, in an exam and in a formal setting. The negative 沒有去過 is neutral and fine everywhere. As a learner, you can produce 去過 and 沒去過 and be understood and correct in any register, and you can simply recognise 有去過 when you hear it.

Common errors

• Using 了 for “have you ever”: 你去台灣了嗎？ (Nǐ qù Táiwān le ma?) asks whether you went, as a single event. For “ever”, use 過.
• Using 不 with 過: see the starred example above.
• Keeping 了 in a negative: ✗ 我沒吃了 is wrong; drop 了. Note that 我不吃了 (Wǒ bù chī le) is fine, and means “I won’t eat (any more)”.
• Thinking 過 cannot take a time word. It can: 我去年去過日本 (Wǒ qùnián qù guò Rìběn), “I went to Japan last year”, presents it as an experience you have had. 我去年去了日本 reports the trip as a single event, often as news.
• Treating 了 as “past tense”. Mandarin marks completion and change, and leaves tense to context, as does Chinese have tenses? explains.

Practice

Choose 過 or 了.

1. 你看___這部電影嗎？ (Have you seen this film?)
2. 昨天晚上我吃___牛肉麵。 (I ate beef noodle soup last night.)
3. 我從來沒去___夜市。 (I have never been to a night market.)
4. 他上個月買___一台新電腦。 (He bought a new computer last month.)

Answers: 1. 過 (你看過這部電影嗎？) 2. 了 (昨天晚上我吃了牛肉麵。) 3. 過 (我從來沒去過夜市。) 4. 了 (他上個月買了一台新電腦。)

In a spaced-repetition deck, cloze cards that blank only 過 or 了 in a sentence you already understand train this choice better than a definition card does.

Related reading

• TOCFL Band A Grammar: Aspect Markers: where 了, 過 and the complements sit in the Band A exam.
• Does Chinese Have Tenses?: why aspect markers do the work tense does in English.
• 不 vs 沒: which negation goes with which verb.
• 還, 再 and 又: Three Ways to Say “Again”: the next confusable set once 過 and 了 are settled.