nǐ chī guo zhè jiā fàndiàn de yú ma?

Here, 过 marks experience.
So 吃过 means have eaten before / have had the experience of eating.

In this sentence, 你吃过这家饭店的鱼吗？ is asking:

• Have you ever eaten the fish at this restaurant?

This is different from just 吃, which would only mean eat in a general sense.

Examples:

• 你吃过北京烤鸭吗？ = Have you ever eaten Beijing duck?
• 我没吃过。 = I’ve never eaten it before.

This is a very common question.

• 吃过 focuses on past experience
• 吃了 usually focuses on completion of an action

So:

• 你吃过这家饭店的鱼吗？ = Have you ever tried this restaurant’s fish?
• 你吃了这家饭店的鱼吗？ = Did you eat the fish from this restaurant? / Have you eaten it already?

A simple way to remember it:

• 过 = ever before
• 了 = did / finished

They are not interchangeable in many situations.

家 is a measure word (classifier) often used for businesses and establishments, including:

• 饭店 restaurant
• 商店 shop
• 公司 company
• 银行 bank

So:

• 这家饭店 = this restaurant
• literally: this + classifier + restaurant

In English, we do not need a word like this, but in Chinese, classifiers are very common after demonstratives and numbers.

Compare:

• 这家饭店 = this restaurant
• 那家公司 = that company
• 三家银行 = three banks

的 links a modifier to a noun. In many cases, it works a bit like ’s or of in English.

So:

• 这家饭店的鱼 = this restaurant’s fish
• more naturally in English: the fish at this restaurant or the fish dish from this restaurant

It shows that 鱼 is connected to 这家饭店.

Other examples:

• 我的书 = my book
• 老师的话 = the teacher’s words
• 这家店的菜 = this restaurant’s dishes

In most real-life situations, it usually means the fish dish / fish dishes served by the restaurant, not a specific live fish.

Chinese often uses simple nouns in a broad way, and the exact meaning depends on context.

So in this sentence, a natural interpretation is:

• Have you ever tried the fish here?
• Have you had this restaurant’s fish dish?

If the context were different, it could literally mean the fish belonging to the restaurant, but that is much less likely here.

吗 turns a statement into a yes/no question.

Compare:

• 你吃过这家饭店的鱼。 = You have eaten this restaurant’s fish.
• 你吃过这家饭店的鱼吗？ = Have you eaten this restaurant’s fish?

This is one of the most basic ways to ask questions in Mandarin.

A short answer could be:

• 吃过。 = Yes, I have.
• 没吃过。 = No, I haven’t.

Mandarin does not have articles like a, an, and the.

So 鱼 can mean:

• fish
• a fish
• the fish

The exact meaning comes from context.

In this sentence, English naturally adds the:

• Have you eaten the fish at this restaurant?

But Chinese does not need a separate word for that.

Yes, that is a good observation.

饭店 can mean different things depending on region and context:

• In modern everyday Mandarin, it often means restaurant
• In some contexts, especially older or more formal usage, it can also mean hotel

In this sentence, because of 吃过……的鱼 (eaten the fish from...), 饭店 is clearly understood as restaurant.

If you want less ambiguity, people also often say:

• 餐馆
• 餐厅

Both commonly mean restaurant.

Yes, but the meaning changes.

• 你吃过这家饭店的鱼吗？ = Have you ever eaten the fish at this restaurant?
• 你吃这家饭店的鱼吗？ = Do you eat the fish at this restaurant? / Are you eating this restaurant’s fish?

Without 过, the sentence no longer asks about past experience. It may sound more like a habitual question or a question about the current situation, depending on context.

So if you want have you ever tried it before?, 过 is the right choice.

The structure is actually very typical for Mandarin:

• 你 = you
• 吃过 = have eaten before
• 这家饭店的鱼 = this restaurant’s fish
• 吗 = question particle

So the pattern is:

Subject + Verb + Object + 吗

Chinese usually keeps the basic statement order and then adds 吗 at the end to make it a yes/no question.

That is different from English, where we often change word order:

• English: Have you eaten ... ?
• Chinese: You have eaten ... ma?

A few natural answers are:

• 吃过。 = Yes, I have.
• 没吃过。 = No, I haven’t.
• 吃过，挺好吃的。 = Yes, I have. It’s pretty tasty.
• 还没吃过。 = Not yet.
• 吃过一次。 = I’ve had it once.

Notice that with 过, the negative form is usually 没 + verb + 过:

• 没吃过 = have never eaten

not usually 不吃过.

In many teaching materials, 过 as an aspect particle is often pronounced in a light/neutral tone, so it may be written as guo.

So in this sentence:

• 吃过 is often pronounced roughly like chīguo

This is different from full-tone guò when 过 is used as a regular verb meaning to pass / cross / spend.

For learners, the important thing is:

• in 吃过, 过 is a grammar particle marking experience
• it is often spoken lightly in natural speech

Yes. Some common alternatives are:

• 你吃过这家餐厅的鱼吗？
• 你有没有吃过这家饭店的鱼？
• 这家饭店的鱼，你吃过吗？

These all mean roughly the same thing, though the focus and style change slightly.

For example:

• 你有没有吃过……？ is another very common way to ask Have you ever... ?
• 这家饭店的鱼，你吃过吗？ puts extra emphasis on the fish at this restaurant