⚡ Quick summary
Passed, the past tense of the verb pass, is most commonly confused with past when past is used as an adjective, as in past tense or past events. Past can also be used as an adverb, preposition, or noun, as in Don’t dwell on the past.
Passed and past are often pronounced exactly the same, but they are different words with different meanings and are used as different parts of speech.
In this article, we will define past and passed, explain how they are typically used, and provide examples of how we use them in sentences.
When to use passed or past
The word passed is the past tense and past participle of the verb pass. It is mostly used as a verb, but it can also be used as an adjective.
Here are examples of each usage:
- Verb: Jenny passed me in the hall this morning.
- Adjective: The wide receiver kept his eyes on the passed football.
The word past can be used as an adjective or noun. It’s also sometimes used as an adverb or preposition. As an adjective and noun, past typically describes a time that has gone by, as in Past events do not have to predict future ones.
As an adverb, past means “so as to pass by or beyond.” As a preposition, past typically means beyond in time, space, direction, or amount.
Here are examples of each of these uses:
- Noun: We used to be enemies, but that is in the past now.
- Adjective: The past two weeks have gone by in a flash.
- Adverb: We watched the parade march past.
- Preposition: The huge oak tree is just past the lake.
Here’s the key difference between the two words: While the word past has many different meanings and uses, it is never used as a verb. The word passed, however, is almost always used as a verb. You can use this difference to remember which word to use.
Now let’s look at some specific examples.
Is it walked past or passed?
When we want to say that someone walks by or beyond, we use the phrase walk past, as in We walked past the bank on our way to the store.
Is it past due or passed due? (Or pass due?)
When we want to describe a debt as remaining unpaid or as something being overdue, past due is considered the correct phrase to use. For example, we would say The rent is past due, but I still don’t have enough money to pay it. You can remember that we want the word related to time here. It’s not the present or the future but the past.
Is it get past or get passed?
We don’t want to confuse you, but either get past and get passed can be grammatically correct, depending on context.
When you mean “resolve” or “move by,” you want get past.
For example:
- Batman will never get past the death of his parents.
- The goalie didn’t let even a single shot get past her all season.
When you mean “to approve,” you want get passed, as in The Senate is considering three bills, but it seems likely that only one will get passed.
There’s also the phrasal verb pass over, which means “to take no notice of or to disregard,” as in I hope I’m not passed over for this promotion. This is the sense referred to in the Jewish holiday of Passover (because God passed over, or skipped, the Jews’ houses when he plagued the houses of Egypt).
Examples of passed and past in a sentence
It’s past time that we look at examples of how we use passed and past in sentences.
- The warrior had a shadowy past as a bandit.
- We passed the time reading books in the library.
- Saul used his past failures as an actor as motivation to become a great director.
- Luke passed the potatoes down the table to his younger sister.
- The soldiers snuck past alligators as they passed through the swamp.
