过
guò
- Pinyin
- guò
- Pinyin (Plain)
- guo
- Tone
- 4
- Strokes
- 6
- Radical
- 辵
- Readings
- guòguoTone: 4surname GuoOrder: 0Primary
- Stroke Order Code
- Speed
- Stroke Order Data
- ["M 712 553 Q 719 556 863 575 Q 875 574 885 587 Q 886 600 861 611 Q 825 635 746 610 Q 728 607 712 601 L 664 590 Q 607 578 413 551 Q 382 547 405 528 Q 441 500 473 508 Q 558 527 665 545 L 712 553 Z", "M 665 545 Q 666 439 666 261 Q 665 243 656 236 Q 649 230 560 239 Q 527 246 531 237 Q 534 230 555 219 Q 628 177 649 151 Q 674 120 690 121 Q 703 121 716 154 Q 729 197 724 267 Q 712 411 712 553 L 712 601 Q 712 677 729 739 Q 745 767 692 789 Q 659 807 641 800 Q 625 794 640 772 Q 661 747 662 713 Q 663 700 664 590 L 665 545 Z", "M 466 397 Q 488 375 512 349 Q 524 337 538 337 Q 548 337 553 349 Q 557 362 551 389 Q 544 417 464 441 Q 451 445 444 443 Q 440 439 440 428 Q 443 418 466 397 Z", "M 241 717 Q 268 695 297 668 Q 313 655 331 656 Q 344 657 348 672 Q 352 690 341 723 Q 334 742 301 756 Q 270 765 233 772 Q 215 775 208 771 Q 202 767 205 752 Q 209 739 241 717 Z", "M 321 180 Q 331 189 335 204 Q 342 246 300 317 Q 273 365 342 451 Q 345 455 349 458 Q 371 477 352 493 Q 331 509 297 523 Q 275 536 238 506 Q 159 461 132 466 Q 125 466 122 461 Q 121 457 129 452 Q 169 433 247 465 Q 257 469 265 458 Q 284 437 264 411 Q 221 369 252 316 Q 306 229 294 182 C 290 152 303 156 321 180 Z", "M 294 182 Q 249 183 204 168 Q 170 155 118 149 Q 111 149 108 140 Q 105 133 114 123 Q 132 105 156 94 Q 168 88 186 103 Q 267 169 401 116 Q 449 100 513 71 Q 735 -31 816 -3 Q 879 19 931 58 Q 955 73 931 73 Q 720 64 571 104 Q 492 126 393 162 Q 357 177 321 180 L 294 182 Z"]
- Meaning
- “过” most commonly means “to pass” or “to go past” something (a place, time, or event), and by extension “to have experienced” something (as in “我去过中国” – “I have been to China”). It can also mean “to cross” (a road/river), “to spend” (time or a holiday), or “fault/mistake” when used as a noun (as in “过错” – “error, fault”).
- Metadata
- Locale: enCached At: 3/24/2026, 7:17:56 PM
Usage
“过” is extremely common in modern Chinese and learners usually first meet it as a verb meaning “to pass” or “to cross,” and as part of everyday phrases. For example, 过马路 “to cross the road,” 过桥 “to cross a bridge,” 过生日 “to celebrate a birthday,” and 过年 “to celebrate the New Year.” In these, it can mean physically passing something, or “to spend/celebrate” a time or event. It also appears in traffic or movement contexts like 走过 “walk past,” 开车开过了 “drove past (it),” or 过来 / 过去 “come over / go over,” which are very frequent in speech. Learners also quickly encounter “过” as a grammatical particle (usually after a verb) to express past experience: “过” here means “have ever done” something. For example, 我去过中国 “I have been to China (before),” 吃过北京烤鸭吗？ “Have you ever eaten Peking duck?” In this use, “过” doesn’t indicate a specific time, but that the action has occurred at least once in one’s life or experience. These two broad functions—“to pass/spend” and “have ever (done)”—cover most of the high-frequency uses learners see in textbooks and real-life materials.
Handwriting Notes
过 in handwriting is usually compact and slightly rounded compared with its printed Song/Ming typeface. The left side 辶 (“movement” radical) often looks like a flowing curve: the top dot may be very small or almost merged into the following curve, and the “walk” tail at the bottom typically sweeps out in a smooth hook rather than the sharply angled shape you see in print. The right part 寸 is proportionally smaller and tucked inside the bend of 辶; the short horizontal and vertical strokes may be written lighter and closer together, and the little tick at the bottom can be quite understated. Handwritten forms can vary in how open or closed the bottom of 辶 is, how large the right component is relative to the whole, and how much the individual strokes curve or simplify—some writers connect strokes more, others keep them distinct. In quick writing, the character can become more cursive, with the left side turning into a single flowing stroke and the right side compressed but still recognizable by its basic cross-and-tick shape. Modern AI handwriting recognition systems are trained on many such style variations so they can reliably recognize 过 from different people’s writing on touchscreens and digital devices.
Description
“过” is a common Chinese character meaning “to pass,” “to cross,” or “to go past,” and is also used for “to spend (time)” and “to celebrate (a festival).” It appears in many everyday phrases, such as 经过 (to pass by), 过马路 (to cross the road), and 过生日 (to celebrate a birthday).