经过【jīngguò】

经过 in front of a process – effort, discussion, treatment, a length of time – means "after going through". The 经过 phrase opens the sentence, and the second half gives the result.

The process is often a noun phrase with 的 (三年的努力) or a verb used as a noun (讨论, 研究, 练习). The tone is neutral to written; news reports and essays use it a lot.

The 经过 phrase goes first

English can say "he passed through hard work" with the cause at the end. In Chinese the 经过 phrase comes before the result.

• × 他考上了大学经过努力 → 经过努力，他考上了大学

Passing by a place

As a plain verb, 经过 means "pass by" or "go through" a place. 了 or 过 can follow it.

As a noun, 经过 is "what happened, the course of events": 事情的经过.