Lin, can you please explain the use of "Guo" eg: Wo quguole zhonguo san ci. or...Wo yudaoguole yige pengyou. One of the few I cannot find in the MDGB website. Thanks.....BH

http://nboard.nciku.com/qna/question/10000000000000033009

Thanks for that info. I am familiar with the use of "Guo" and have used it mant times eg: chiguole...but could not find written confirmation or explaination. The answers provided were clear and precise. Thanks. BH

The 'guo' (过） here refers to something has happened before. In this case: qu guo le (去过了） implies that you have went there before. 我　（ｗｏ）　＝　Ｉ 去过了　（ｑｕ　ｇｕｏ　ｌｅ）　＝　ｗｅｎｔ　ｔｏ　（ｓｏｍｅｐｌａｃｅ）　ｂｅｆｏｒｅ 中国　（ｚｈｏｎｇ　ｇｕｏ）　＝　Ｃｈｉｎａ 三次　（ｓａｎ　ｃｈｉ）　＝　Ｔｈｒｅｅ　ｔｉｍｅｓ When you put then all together, they became: I went to China before for three times. In some cases, '过' can be used as a past tense too! 吃　（ｃｈｉ）　＝　ｅａｔ 吃过　（ｃｈｉ　ｇｕｏ）　＝　ａｔｅ／ｈａｓ　ｅａｔｅｎ In negative sentences: "I have never this eaten before." will be translated as: 我从来没吃过这个。 （ｗｏ　ｃｏｎｇ　ｌａｉ　ｍｅｉ　ｃｈｉ　ｇｕｏ　ｚｈｅ　ｇｅ） 我　（ｗｏ） = I 从来 (ｃｏｎｇ　ｌａｉ) = Till now 没 (ｍｅｉ) = no/never 吃过 (ｃｈｉ　ｇｕｏ) = eaten 这个 (ｚｈｅ　ｇｅ) = this Literal translation: "I, till now, never eaten this." Which means: "I have never eaten this before." Hope I helped! :)