这种事，几乎从来没有过
Reach for this when you want to make a strong claim that something is essentially unprecedented. It's a fixed-feeling spoken phrase: 'this kind of thing has almost never happened before.' The 几乎 ('almost') hedges the absolute claim just enough to keep it credible, and 从来没有过 stacks 'never' + 'past experience' for emphasis. Common in news commentary, gossip, and storytelling when you want the listener to register that what just happened is genuinely unusual.
Structure
[TOPIC]，几乎从来没有过
...jīhū cónglái méiyǒu guò
How to Think About It
Chinese stacks three negation-of-experience markers here: 从来 ('all along'), 没 ('not'), 过 (experience particle). Together they say 'in the entire span of past experience, this has not occurred.' The 几乎 in front is the rhetorical safety belt — without it, the speaker sounds like they're swearing on a Bible; with it, they sound like a knowing observer.
Examples
这种事，几乎从来没有过。
Zhè zhǒng shì, jīhū cónglái méiyǒu guò.
This kind of thing has almost never happened.
他迟到？这种情况几乎从来没有过。
Tā chídào? Zhè zhǒng qíngkuàng jīhū cónglái méiyǒu guò.
Him being late? That has almost never happened.
在我们公司，这种决定几乎从来没有过。
Zài wǒmen gōngsī, zhè zhǒng juédìng jīhū cónglái méiyǒu guò.
At our company, this kind of decision has almost never been made.
Common Mistake
Learners drop the 过 because 没有 already feels like 'don't have.' But 过 is what turns 没有 into a statement about experience over time. Without 过, the sentence reads as 'this thing doesn't exist,' which is a different claim.
这种事，几乎从来没有。
这种事，几乎从来没有过。
Don't Confuse With
从来不...
Use 从来不 for habitual refusal ('I never drink coffee'). 从来没有过 is about past experience never occurring, not a habit.
从未有过
Same meaning but literary. Use 从未 in essays and headlines; 从来没有过 in speech.
几乎不...
几乎不 means 'almost not / hardly' for present habits. 几乎从来没有过 specifically denies past occurrence.
Practice
这种事，几乎 ___ 没有过。
Show answer
从来
在中国，这种政策几乎从来没有 ___。
Show answer
过
Arrange: 几乎 / 这种 / 从来 / 事 / 过 / 没有
Show answer
这种事几乎从来没有过。
This kind of mistake has almost never happened before.
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这种错误，几乎从来没有过。
Write a sentence about a surprising event using 几乎从来没有过.
Show answer
他主动道歉，这种事几乎从来没有过。
Hear It in Real Episodes
This pattern appears in 1 Fluentide episode: