Passed vs. Past How to Choose the Right Word

The words passed and past both come from the verb to pass. Originally, in fact, they were the same word—but thats  no longer true. Over time, their uses diverged, and the two words are now far from interchangeable, despite how similar they may seem. Passed and past are also homophones, words that are pronounced the same but differ in  meaning and spelling.   How to Use Passed The word passed means to move on, move ahead, take place, go beyond, go across, decline, win approval, or complete successfully. Passed is both the past and past participle form of the verb pass. It can function either as a transitive verb, meaning it takes a direct object, or an intransitive verb, which does not take a direct object. How to Use Past Past usually means belonging to a former time or beyond a time or place. Past has many functions. It can be a noun (meaning a previous time), an adjective (meaning ago), and a preposition (meaning beyond). Past can also be an adverb, which is a part of speech  (or  word class) thats primarily used to  modify  a  verb,  adjective, or  other adverbs. Examples Differentiating between passed and past allows us to either talk about the past (or previous time) more precisely or to use a verb, passed, indicating some kind of movement. Consider the following examples to deepen your understanding of the distinction between the two terms:   The past two weeks have been hard for Sally. She has not passed any of her exams. In the first sentence, past serves as an adjective, modifying the word weeks. By contrast, in the second sentence, passed is used as the past participle form of the verb pass.When she walked past me, I told her to forget the past and look toward the future. These sentences show how flexible the word past can be. In the first sentence, past functions as an adverb, modifying the verb walked, meaning that she walked beyond me. In the second sentence, past is a noun, meaning a previous time.Passed can also serve as the simple past tense of the verb pass, as in this example: We passed several children having fun on the playground.Past can be an adjective, modifying a person or idea, as in, Our past president spoke until past 10 p.m. In the first sentence, past is an adjective modifying president, while in the second sentence, past modifies the time, 10 p.m. How to Remember the Difference   Remember that passed describes an action, while  past  describes a time or space. There are a few memory tricks to help you determine which word is correct. The word past describes a previous space or time, so remember that the last two letters of past are s and t standing for space or time. When it comes to recognizing when to use the word passed, Spellzone suggests that you imagine two people with names beginning with s  passing something to each other:  Sarah passed  Sally the salt. Spellzone also suggests putting your sentence into the present tense. If the word ‘pass’ (or ‘passes’) works in the new sentence it means you need to use  passed, says Spellzone.  So you might have: Sarah passed the salt to Sue. Putting the sentence into the present tense would yield: Sarah passes the salt to Sue. You could never say, Sarah past the salt to Sue. Idiom Alerts Sometimes, passed or past is used as an idiom, a set expression of two or more  words  that means something other than the  literal  meanings  of its individual words. Pass(ed) away: The phrasal verb pass(ed) away  is a euphemism for die or died, as in this example: Thousands attended his funeral after George passed away. Pass(ed) the hat (around): The idiom pass(ed) the hat (around) means to collect donations of money from a group of people. This sentence uses the idiom as such: At the community meeting, we passed the hat around to raise funds for the new church. Pass(ed) out: The phrasal verb pass(ed) out means to faint or lose consciousness. These sentences make the point: He was so inebriated that he passed out in the park after drinking all night.He ran a 10-mile marathon and then passed out due to exhaustion at the finish line.She had a slight heart murmur and passed out because of it.After her daughter and son-in-law announced they were having a baby, the mother passed out from joy.As he placed the engagement ring on her finger, she passed out from shock.The accident was so bad that as she passed by, she passed out. Note how the last sentence uses both the idiom passed out as well as the verb  passed by meaning to move beyond or to walk past. Past your prime: The expression past ones prime means no longer in good health or no longer as good at something as one used to be. These examples show some uses of the phrase: The professor was once capable and respected, but by the 1990s he was past his prime.Many star athletes stay in the game too long—well after they are past their prime. Sources Brians, Paul. Washington State University.  Common Errors in English Usage and More Han Feitzu d 233 BCE Legalist Views on Good Government Comments, brians.wsu.edu/2016/05/30/passed-past/.Football in the USA, homepage.smc.edu/quizzes/cheney_joyce/PassedorPast.html.Voice:  Active and Passive, webapps.towson.edu/ows/past.htm.