V+過

Verb + Across

Level 2Sounds Like gwo3

Use Verb + 過 (gwo3) to express moving across a physical space (such as crossing a street), passing a landmark, or shifting posture/attention.

How It Works

When attached to verbs of motion or physical orientation, 過 (gwo3, Mid Level Tone 3) indicates traversing space, crossing a boundary, or passing a reference point.

1. Path and Transit Complement
Attach 過 directly to motion verbs to show moving across or passing past a reference point:

  • 行過 (haang4 gwo3) = walk across / walk past
  • 經過 (ging1 gwo3) = pass by / pass through
  • 飛過 (fei1 gwo3) = fly across / fly past

2. Deictic Directional Compounds (過嚟 / 過去)
Combine 過 with 嚟 (lei4, towards speaker) or 去 (heoi3, away from speaker) to form directional compounds:

  • 行過嚟 (haang4 gwo3 lei4) = walk over here
  • 望過嚟 (mong6 gwo3 lei4) = look over here
  • 搬過去 (bun1 gwo3 heoi3) = move over there

Cantonese allows you to split 過 and 嚟/去 with a location object (e.g. 行過馬路嚟 = walk across the street to here), or place the location after the compound (e.g. 行過嚟呢邊 = walk over to this side). You can also drop the directional particle when just stating the crossing action (e.g. 行過馬路 = walk across the street), but keeping it emphasizes the direction toward or away from the speaker.

3. Nuance with Aspect Marker 咗 (zo2)
The relative position of 咗 changes the meaning:

  • V + 過 + 咗 + Location = Walked past / beyond a location (e.g. 佢行過咗辦公室 = He walked past the office).
  • V + 咗 + 過去/過 + Location + (度) = Walked over to a location (e.g. 佢行咗過去辦公室 / 佢行咗過辦公室度 = He walked over to the office). Note that expressing moving 'over to' naturally requires a deictic particle (去/嚟) or locative suffix (度).

4. Potential Form (得 / 唔)
You can insert 得 (dak1) or 唔 (m4) between the verb and 過 to express whether the action of crossing or passing is physically possible:

  • 行得過 (haang4 dak1 gwo3) = can walk across
  • 行唔過 (haang4 m4 gwo3) = cannot walk across
  • Idiomatic usage: V + 得 + 過 can also mean 'worth doing' or 'reliable' (e.g. 食得過 sik6 dak1 gwo3 = worth eating / safe to eat; 信得過 seon3 dak1 gwo3 = trustworthy).

5. Personal Targets with 度 (dou6)
When movement using 過 or 過嚟/過去 is directed toward a person rather than a place name, Cantonese requires adding 度 (dou6) after the person (e.g. 行過嚟我度 = walk over to me, not 行過嚟我 or 行過嚟喺我度).

6. Distinguishing Directional 過 from Other Uses
Do not confuse directional 過 with:

  • Experiential 過: Experiencing an action before (e.g. 我去過日本 = I have been to Japan).
  • Iterative 過: Redoing an action (e.g. 寫過 = rewrite).
  • Comparative 過: 'More than' attached to adjectives (e.g. 高過你 = taller than you).

Examples (4)

  1. 佢哋行過馬路去對面食飯。

    They walked across the street to eat on the other side.

    Word by Word: They walk across street go opposite side eat rice.

    行過 (haang4 gwo3) shows crossing the physical space of the street.

  2. 佢轉過頭望過嚟，對住我笑。

    She turned her head around, looked over here, and smiled at me.

    Word by Word: She turn over head look over come, towards me smile.

    轉過 (zyun3 gwo3) and 望過嚟 (mong6 gwo3 lei4) indicate shifting physical orientation and directing vision across toward the speaker.

  3. 我啱啱經過醫院，見到好多人排隊。

    I just passed by the hospital and saw a lot of people queuing up.

    Word by Word: I just pass across hospital, see many people queue team.

    經過 (ging1 gwo3) means transiting past or passing by a physical reference point.

  4. 佢行過咗辦公室，你即刻叫住佢啦！

    He walked past the office, call out to him immediately!

    Word by Word: He walk across completed office, you immediately call stay him SFP!

    Placing 咗 (zo2) after 過 (gwo3) emphasizes that he walked past and went beyond the office.

Common Mistakes

  • Placing 咗 before 過 when trying to say 'walked past'.

    佢行咗過辦公室，冇停落嚟。
    佢行過咗辦公室，冇停落嚟。

    To express walking past a location, 咗 must follow 過 (行過咗 haang4 gwo3 zo2). Saying 行咗過 requires a deictic particle like 去 (heoi3) or a locative marker like 度 (dou6) and means 'walked over to' (e.g. 佢行咗過去辦公室 / 佢行咗過辦公室度).

  • Omitting 嚟 (lei4) and 度 (dou6) when directing movement or attention toward a person.

    佢轉頭望過我。
    佢轉頭望過嚟我度。

    Without 嚟 (lei4), 望過 (mong6 gwo3) sounds like experiential 'has looked at before'. Additionally, when directing movement or attention toward a person, Cantonese requires placing 度 (dou6) after the pronoun or person.

  • Placing the deictic particle 嚟 (lei4) or 去 (heoi3) before 過 (gwo3) instead of after.

    佢行嚟過呢邊。
    佢行過嚟呢邊。

    In compound directional complements, the path verb 過 (gwo3) must come before the deictic particles 嚟 (lei4) or 去 (heoi3). Saying 行嚟過 is incorrect; it should be 行過嚟 (haang4 gwo3 lei4).

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

V+過Level 2Verb + Across

Learn This First

To understand 'V+過' in its directional sense, learners need to be familiar with how Cantonese uses verbal particles to indicate movement. It is also helpful to understand basic directional verbs and to distinguish this usage from the experiential aspect marker '過'.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

过