过 (guò) and 着 (zhe): experience and ongoing states
过 after a verb says you've done something at some time in your life: 我去过北京 (I've been to Beijing). 着 says a state lasts: 门开着 (the door is open).
With 在 for an action in progress and 了 for completion, they make up Chinese 'aspect': how an action unfolds, rather than when.
The essentials
- Experience: verb + 过 (我吃过). For something you've never done, keep 过 and add 没: 没 + verb + 过 (我没吃过).
- 过 vs 了: 我吃过北京烤鸭 (I've had it before) vs 我吃了北京烤鸭 (I had it, on this occasion).
- In progress: 在 + verb: 他在看书.
- A lasting state: verb + 着: 他穿着一件红衣服.
Every lesson on this topic
Each lesson has a full explanation, examples in characters and pinyin you can listen to, and exercises with answers.
A2 (the A2 course)
- 过: have you ever…?: 我去过北京: 过 after a verb means you have done it at some time. 没…过 for never; 过 vs 了.
- 在 and 着: doing it now, and staying that way: 他在看书 (an action going on) and 门开着 (a state that lasts): two kinds of '-ing'.
B2 (the B2 course)
- Aspect together: 过…了, 着, 起来, 下来, 下去: Combining 过 and 了, 着 in descriptions, and 起来, 下来, 下去 for starting, settling and continuing.
In the app, these lessons are taught one idea at a time with audio, practised with questions you can answer in characters or pinyin, and brought back for review.
Other topics
- 了 (le) in Chinese, explained
- 的, 地 and 得: the three de
- Chinese measure words
- The 把 (bǎ) sentence, explained
- 被 (bèi) and the passive in Chinese
- 是…的 (shì…de): when, where and how
- Comparisons with 比 (bǐ)
- Chinese complements: result, direction and potential
- Questions in Chinese: 吗, question words and particles
- 不 (bù) or 没 (méi): negation in Chinese
- Chinese conjunctions: because, although, if
- Chengyu: Chinese four-character idioms
- Chinese numbers, dates and time
- Chinese tones and pinyin