guò qu
past; old; foretime
我过去很胖。
wǒ ɡuò qù hěn pànɡ .
I used to be fat.
那都是过去的事了。
nà dōu shì ɡuò qù de shì le .
That's all in the past.
这件事已经过去三年了。
zhè jiàn shì yǐ jīnɡ ɡuò qù sān nián le .
It's been three years since this happened.
将来 (jiāng lái)
future
现在 (xiàn zài)
present
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The Chinese word 过去 (guòqù) is composed of two characters: 过 (guò) and 去 (qù). The character 过 originally meant "to cross over" or "to pass by", and it is often used in the sense of "to go through" or "to experience". The character 去 originally meant "to leave" or "to depart", and it is often used in the sense of "to go away" or "to disappear". When these two characters are combined, they form the word 过去, which literally means "to go past" or "to pass by". In modern Chinese, 过去 is used to refer to the past, either in a general sense or in a specific sense. For example, it can be used to refer to a past event, a past time period, or a past experience.
