Mandarin · Chapter 6 · Lesson 11 · Grammar primer
Aspect markers: 了, 在/正在, 过
Mandarin replaces tense with aspect. 了 for completion and new states, 在/正在 for ongoing action, 过 for 'have ever' experience.
The short version
了 (le) marks completion or change, never past tense
Stop mapping 了 (le) onto the English past. Sitting straight after the verb it says the action finished; sitting at the very end of the clause it says a new situation now holds. Habits take no 了 (le) at all: 我每天吃饭 (wǒ měi tiān chī fàn), never 我每天吃了饭 (wǒ měi tiān chī le fàn).
他买了一本书。 Tā mǎi le yì běn shū.
过 (guò) is your CV, 了 (le) is a specific occasion
我去了中国 (wǒ qù le zhōng guó) reports a particular trip. 我去过中国 (wǒ qù guò zhōng guó) says the experience is on your record, at some unspecified point, and it does not matter when. If you can slot 'have ever' into the English, you want 过 (guò), and it is negated with 没 (méi) rather than 不 (bù).
我去过中国。 Wǒ qù guo zhōng guó.
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