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过去 (guò qù) — to go over (to a place), to pass by; (of time) to pass

Definition

As a verb, 过去 means 'to go over / to pass by' (people or time moving on). Don't confuse it with the HSK 3 noun 过去 ('the past'); verbs like 过, 经过, 路过 also mean 'pass' but 过去 stresses moving across to somewhere.

verb
to go over (to a place)to pass by(of time) to pass

Examples

  • 。
    Tā zǒu guò qù le.
    He walked over.
  • 过去，。
    Sān nián guò qù le, wǒ cháng gāo le.
    Three years passed, and I grew taller.
  • 过去。
    Wǒ guò qù kàn kàn.
    I'll go over and have a look.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

过guòcross/pass
去qùgo

过 adds crossing or passing, and 去 sends the action away, giving the sense of going past.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 過; 过 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
辵辵chuòwalk
Sound part声符shēngfú
咼
咼wāi過guò
Same sound today

The traditional form 過 pairs 辵 (walk) with 咼 as a sound component; the simplified 过 is a shorthand, and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 过 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

去 pairs 大, a man, with 口, a mouth or object. The evidence reads this as a man leaving a place, a man opening his mouth, or a cover over an object.

Open 去 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 2500 Most Frequent Chinese WordsHSK 2.0 Level 31000 Most Frequent Chinese WordsDirectionsTime (Abstract)

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