21.7 Yes-No Questions with 有冇 jau5 mou5 II (with 過 gwo3)

In Grammar and Vocabulary 9.4, we learned to use the aspect particle 過 gwo3 to indicate we have experience of doing an activity in the past. In Grammar and Vocabulary 13.1, we learned to use 有冇 jau5 mou5 to ask whether someone actually does an activity or not.

To ask whether someone has done an activity or not before, we can use 過 gwo3 and 有冇 jau5 mou5 together to form a yes-no question. We put 有冇 jau5 mou5 before the verb for the activity. This type of question is like Have you … before? in English (as in Have you been to that restaurant before?)

To answer the question, we can give a short answer or a long answer. We give a short answer more often.

For positive answers, we can add or omit 有 jau5. For short answers, we can simply say 有呀 jau5 aa3 for ‘yes’ or 冇呀 mou5 aa3 for ‘no’. We can also form a short answer by omitting the subject and the object in the long answer. If the verb is a separate verb (e.g., 打邊爐 daa2 bin1 lou4), we usually keep the first syllable (the verb part) and omit the other syllables (the object part).

⚠️ Notice when forming a yes-no question with 過 gwo3, we don’t use the X-not-X construction of the verb for the activity. Instead, we add 有冇 jau5 mou5 before the verb.

⚠️ Also, we don’t use the adverb 唔 m4 (‘not’) to negate a verb with 過 gwo3 in the context here. Instead, we use 冇 mou5.