我最近没打过羽毛球
Just wondering if the 过 in this sentence can be omitted? Or does the sentence have a slightly different meaning if I remove it?
2 Answers
Your 过 is not necessary, but:
我最近没打过羽毛球。and 我最近没打羽毛球。
are equivalent, as far as people I asked are concerned.
For the question: 'Have you played badminton recently?' people immediately used ‘打过’， but I did not consult all of China!
你最近打过羽毛球吗?
Apparently, ‘打了’ conjures up the idea of hitting someone, so would tend to be avoided in this situation.
I've never played badminton. 我从来没打过羽毛球。
I would like to ask 水巷孑蠻先生 (and other experts here), whether this use of 过 is found in Old Chinese and Middle Chinese texts, or whether might be a concession to Western ideas of tense and especially past tense.
Any situation where a time in the past is mentioned: 'Yesterday .., Last night .., Recently ..' we know for certain the event mentioned is in the past. Past Tense is actually redundant. English sometimes uses what is quaintly called the 'Historical Present':
"Last night, I'm sitting alone, watching TV, when, all of a sudden ....." Nobody will say, 'You used 'I am', therefore this is a Present Tense sentence.'
我最近没打过羽毛球 indicates that you haven't played badminton lately. It emphasizes the result or the fact that you haven't done it.
Well, 我最近没打羽毛球 sounds like you regularly play badminton, say once a week, however lately you break that rule(not play it). Basically, 我最近没打羽毛球 means you play badminton regularly or in the past, but for some reason you haven't/didn't play(ed) it recently.
沒X過is a standard phrasing which meanshaven't done X before at all, and means something entirely different from what you're trying to say. If communication is about clarity, then adding過decreases the ability to communicate clearly.我最近沒X過YIMO is not a meaningful phrase, because it doesn't specify a time frame for which沒X過is applicable. If you do specify a time frame then it is okay, e.g.我上個星期沒打過羽毛球, I haven't played badminton at all last week. (I'm not posting an answer, because other people may have different opinions.)我最近沒打過羽毛球; my point is that adding 過 creates potential for ambiguities (e.g. bad phone connection, making them hear我~~沒打過羽毛球, which means something entirely different).