<p>(1)朋友<strong>沒有</strong>孤單<strong>過</strong>。- Friend(s) has/have not left alone before(過).</p>
<p>X (2)朋友<strong>沒有曾</strong>孤單過。(Note, &quot;朋友<strong>沒曾</strong>孤單<strong>過</strong>。&quot; could be acceptable to others.</p>
<p>X (3)朋友<strong>沒有曾經</strong>孤單過。</p>
<p>(4)朋友<strong>未</strong>孤單<strong>過</strong>。- Friend(s) has/have not left alone before(過).</p>
<p>(5)朋友<strong>未曾</strong>孤單<strong>過</strong>。- Friend(s) has/have not ever(曾) left alone before(過).</p>
<p>X (6)朋友<strong>未曾經</strong>孤單過。</p>
<p>(7)朋友<strong>不曾</strong>孤單<strong>過</strong>。- Friend(s) has/have never(不曾) left alone before(過).</p>
<p>X (8)朋友<strong>不曾經</strong>孤單過。</p>
<p>Summary of the valid negation patterns: &quot;<strong>沒(有)</strong> 去 <strong>過</strong>&quot;, &quot;<strong>未(曾)</strong> 去 <strong>過</strong>&quot;, &quot;<strong>不曾</strong>去<strong>過</strong>&quot;. Note the latter two negate the phase &quot;<strong>曾經</strong>去<strong>過</strong>&quot; (&quot;<strong>不曾經</strong>去過&quot; is grammatically incorrect.)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-12-06T23:10:07.747Z
2022-12-07T02:26:15.840Z
2022-12-07T02:26:15.840Z
r13
<p>从未孤单过</p>
<p>未曾孤单过</p>
<p>从未曾孤单过</p>
<p>从未曾经孤单过</p>
<p>没有孤单过</p>
<p>从没有孤单过</p>
<p>没孤单过</p>
<p>从没孤单过</p>
<p>曾经孤单过</p>
<p>All the above are possible.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-12-07T18:40:30.077Z
2022-12-07T18:40:30.077Z
Geoffrey Chang
<p>Well, first of all, logically, they are equally the same. Only, they provide different emphases.</p>
<p>朋友沒(有)<strong>孤單</strong>過。(1)
朋友沒(有)<strong>曾</strong>孤單過。(2)
朋友沒(有)<strong>曾經</strong>孤單過。(3)
朋友未<strong>孤單</strong>過。(4)
朋友<strong>未曾</strong>孤單過。(5)
朋友<strong>不曾孤單</strong>過。(7)</p>
<p>Only these two are not &quot;grammatically&quot; correct:</p>
<p>朋友未曾經孤單過。(6)
朋友不曾經孤單過。(8)</p>
<p>未曾 = 不曾 is kind of idiomatic expressions in written Chinese, but not 不曾經, which is kind of awkward expression, at least in mandarin.</p>
<p>This remind me one thing though: Once, I've met a Belgian young man who spoke Chinese fluently, and he said he has only been in China for a year, and study Chinese for about 2 years if I remember correctly. I was quite surprised on his talent on language and how efficiently he learned Chinese, and he told me that oral Chinese is actually very easy to learn since the gramma is very simple and there's almost no rules at all, only words and context matters.</p>
<p>This conversion put me into thought, and I'm kind of agree.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-12-07T08:50:07.700Z
2022-12-07T08:50:07.700Z
Weishan Yang
<p>In Emil Wakin Chau's song 朋友 péngyou, there is a line:</p>
<pre><code>朋友不曾孤單過。
péngyou bùcéng gūdān guò.
</code></pre>
<p>I think the meaning is something like &quot;friends haven't (ever) been/felt lonely&quot;.</p>
<p>I find this use of 不 bù alongside 過/过 guò odd, as it goes against the well-known rule that guò sentences are negated with 沒 méi. But I assume the song lyrics are correct and, in fact, I've found that 不曾 bùcéng appears in some dictionaries, and the Chinese Grammar wiki site[1] says that both 不曾 and 未曾 can be used to negate a past experience with guò. I was wondering if this use of bù with céng, or with the disyllabic version 曾經 céngjīng, is as common or acceptable as using méi(yǒu) or the formal 未 wèi. Consider the following alternatives:</p>
<pre><code>朋友沒(有)孤單過。(1)
朋友沒(有)曾孤單過。(2)
朋友沒(有)曾經孤單過。(3)
朋友未孤單過。(4)
朋友未曾孤單過。(5)
朋友未曾經孤單過。(6)
朋友不曾孤單過。(7)
朋友不曾經孤單過。(8)
</code></pre>
<p>My three questions:</p>
<ol>
<li>Are all these versions acceptable?</li>
<li>Is the meaning the same in all the valid cases?</li>
<li>Are there any other cases of 過 guò sentences being negated with 不 bù and not using 曾 céng?</li>
</ol>
<p>[1]: <a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Expressing_%22once%22_with_%22cengjing%22" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Expressing_%22once%22_with_%22cengjing%22</a> no</p>

<grammar><past-tense>
Use of 不 for negation in the 不曾...過 pattern
# Use of 不 for negation in the 不曾...過 pattern

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-12-06)

In Emil Wakin Chau's song 朋友 péngyou, there is a line:

```
朋友不曾孤單過。
péngyou bùcéng gūdān guò.

```

I think the meaning is something like "friends haven't (ever) been/felt lonely".

I find this use of 不 bù alongside 過/过 guò odd, as it goes against the well-known rule that guò sentences are negated with 沒 méi. But I assume the song lyrics are correct and, in fact, I've found that 不曾 bùcéng appears in some dictionaries, and the Chinese Grammar wiki site[1] says that both 不曾 and 未曾 can be used to negate a past experience with guò. I was wondering if this use of bù with céng, or with the disyllabic version 曾經 céngjīng, is as common or acceptable as using méi(yǒu) or the formal 未 wèi. Consider the following alternatives:

```
朋友沒(有)孤單過。(1)
朋友沒(有)曾孤單過。(2)
朋友沒(有)曾經孤單過。(3)
朋友未孤單過。(4)
朋友未曾孤單過。(5)
朋友未曾經孤單過。(6)
朋友不曾孤單過。(7)
朋友不曾經孤單過。(8)

```

My three questions:

1. Are all these versions acceptable?
2. Is the meaning the same in all the valid cases?
3. Are there any other cases of 過 guò sentences being negated with 不 bù and not using 曾 céng?

[1]: <https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Expressing_%22once%22_with_%22cengjing%22> no

**Tags:** grammar, past-tense


---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2022-12-06. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

(1)朋友**沒有**孤單**過**。- Friend(s) has/have not left alone before(過).

X (2)朋友**沒有曾**孤單過。(Note, "朋友**沒曾**孤單**過**。" could be acceptable to others.

X (3)朋友**沒有曾經**孤單過。

(4)朋友**未**孤單**過**。- Friend(s) has/have not left alone before(過).

(5)朋友**未曾**孤單**過**。- Friend(s) has/have not ever(曾) left alone before(過).

X (6)朋友**未曾經**孤單過。

(7)朋友**不曾**孤單**過**。- Friend(s) has/have never(不曾) left alone before(過).

X (8)朋友**不曾經**孤單過。

Summary of the valid negation patterns: "**沒(有)** 去 **過**", "**未(曾)** 去 **過**", "**不曾**去**過**". Note the latter two negate the phase "**曾經**去**過**" ("**不曾經**去過" is grammatically incorrect.)


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### Answer by username_2 on 2022-12-07. Score: 2

从未孤单过

未曾孤单过

从未曾孤单过

从未曾经孤单过

没有孤单过

从没有孤单过

没孤单过

从没孤单过

曾经孤单过

All the above are possible.


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### Answer by username_3 on 2022-12-07. Score: 1

Well, first of all, logically, they are equally the same. Only, they provide different emphases.

朋友沒(有)**孤單**過。(1)
朋友沒(有)**曾**孤單過。(2)
朋友沒(有)**曾經**孤單過。(3)
朋友未**孤單**過。(4)
朋友**未曾**孤單過。(5)
朋友**不曾孤單**過。(7)

Only these two are not "grammatically" correct:

朋友未曾經孤單過。(6)
朋友不曾經孤單過。(8)

未曾 = 不曾 is kind of idiomatic expressions in written Chinese, but not 不曾經, which is kind of awkward expression, at least in mandarin.

This remind me one thing though: Once, I've met a Belgian young man who spoke Chinese fluently, and he said he has only been in China for a year, and study Chinese for about 2 years if I remember correctly. I was quite surprised on his talent on language and how efficiently he learned Chinese, and he told me that oral Chinese is actually very easy to learn since the gramma is very simple and there's almost no rules at all, only words and context matters.

This conversion put me into thought, and I'm kind of agree.


---

