How to Say “We have met before” in Chinese
Small talk and travel · HSK 3
"We have met before" in Chinese is 我们以前见过 (Wǒmen yǐqián jiàn guò). The 过 (guò) here is the experiential aspect marker; it signals 'at some point in the past' and is the natural way to say you've done something before. Adding 面 (miàn) after 见 makes it sound slightly more complete and polite, common in business settings.
Primary translation
我们以前见过
Wǒmen yǐqián jiàn guò
Traditional: 我們以前見過
Variants by register
Formal
我们以前见过面
Wǒmen yǐqián jiàn guò miàn
Casual
咱们见过啊
Zánmen jiàn guò a
When to use it
The 过 (guò) here is the experiential aspect marker; it signals 'at some point in the past' and is the natural way to say you've done something before. Adding 面 (miàn) after 见 makes it sound slightly more complete and polite, common in business settings. In northern China and Beijing, 咱们 (zánmen) replaces 我们 to include the listener warmly; it literally means 'us including you.' The sentence-final 啊 softens the tone so it doesn't sound like you're correcting them.
Example sentences
我们以前见过，在李总的饭局上。
Wǒmen yǐqián jiàn guò, zài Lǐ zǒng de fànjú shàng.
We've met before, at Director Li's dinner.
不好意思，我们以前是不是见过？
Bù hǎoyìsi, wǒmen yǐqián shì bu shì jiàn guò?
Sorry, have we met before?
咱们见过啊，去年的展会上。
Zánmen jiàn guò a, qùnián de zhǎnhuì shàng.
We've met; at last year's trade show.