Experience with 過 (--kuè) — Taiwanese Hokkien Grammar

(--kuè--kòe--kue3) after a verb says the action has been experienced at least once. It is about your life history, not about a particular occasion: I have been to France rather than I went to France.

我進前有看過。
guá tsìn-tsîng ū khuànn --kuègóa chìn-chêng ū khoàⁿ --kòegua2 tsin3-tsing5 u7 khuann3 --kue3
I've seen it before.
我進前有去過法國。
guá tsìn-tsîng ū khì --kuè huat-kokgóa chìn-chêng ū khì --kòe hoat-kokgua2 tsin3-tsing5 u7 khi3 --kue3 huat4-kok4
I've been to France before.

The 有 … 過 Frame

The experiential normally sits inside a frame with (ūūu7) in front of the verb — (ūūu7) asserts the fact and (--kuè--kòe--kue3) makes it an experience, giving (ūūu7) + VERB + (--kuè--kòe--kue3). A time word such as (tsìn-tsîngchìn-chêngtsin3-tsing5) before is often added in front, as in both sentences above.

Against the Other Markers

Keep the three apart: (--ah--ah--ah4) reports a change of state, (ūūu7) asserts that an event happened, and (--kuè--kòe--kue3) says it has been experienced before. The negative of the experiential is (bôbôbo5) in front of the verb — have never. The contrast is easiest to feel with a journey: with (--ah--ah--ah4) you have just arrived, with (ūūu7) you did go, and with (--kuè--kòe--kue3) you have been at some point in your life.

Where It Sits

(--kuè--kòe--kue3) follows the verb directly and comes before the object, so the shape is VERB + (--kuè--kòe--kue3) + OBJECT. Taiwanese keeps this experiential sense more sharply than Mandarin does, and often reinforces it with (í-kingí-kengi2-king1) already.

Toneless

Like the other post-verbal markers, (--kuè--kòe--kue3) loses its tone here and is written --kuè. The full-toned (kuèkòekue3) is a separate verb meaning to pass, to cross.

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Taiwanese Hokkien course

3 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 116. A few of them, with the words “Experience with 過 (--kuè)” is about in bold:

喔，我知影法國。我進前有去過法國。
ooh, guá tsai-iánn huat-kok. guá tsìn-tsîng ū khì --kuè huat-kok.o͘h, góa chai-iáⁿ hoat-kok. góa chìn-chêng ū khì --kòe hoat-kok.ooh4, gua2 tsai1-iann2 huat4-kok4. gua2 tsin3-tsing5 u7 khi3 --kue3 huat4-kok4.
Oh, I know France. I have been to France before.
Lesson 208

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