People are often confused about the use of the words past, pass and passed. These words have different meanings and each one is used differently. One reason for confusion is that all three words sound alike especially pass and past.
Should we say, “I walked past the school.”
Or should we say, “I walked pass the school.” The first sentence is correct. The second sentence is not correct. Let’s see why.
What is the meaning of past and pass?
Noun
The word past has more than one meaning. Past is a noun that means a time that has gone by, or the history of an individual or a nation
Example: In the past, gentlemen wore powdered wigs. (time that has gone by)
I had an adventurous past as a bush pilot. (history of an individual)
Preposition
As a preposition past means : beyond in time, in space, in amount
Prepositions describe relationships in time or space
Example: There is a large pond past the mill.
In this sentence past is the preposition showing the position in space or the location of the pond in relation to the mill.
Here is another sentence which shows the use of past as a preposition showing a position in time.
When we found the lost hikers it was past midnight.
Adverb
As an adverb, past also means so as go beyond; by. Adverbs describe or modify verbs.
Example: Although I tried to stop the bus, it drove past.
Adjective
As an adjective past means gone by, belonging to a former time, time just passed
I spent the past hour trying to solve an equation. The king apologised for the past injustices of his ancestors.
On the other hand “pass” is a verb that means to go or move; to proceed, to go or move by.
Example: I pass the church everyday on my way to work.
Passed is the past tense of the verb pass
Example: The cyclist passed the hikers two hours ago.
How to use past, pass and passed
However when there is confusion between past and passed it is not the noun which creates the confusion. Instead it is when past is used as an adjective, adverb or as a preposition that it is confused with passed or pass.
The way to solve the confusion is to determine which part of speech you need for what you are about to say or to write. Here are some examples.
I passed the white cow on my way to school.
This is the use of the verb showing an action that has taken place. The only way that passed can be used is as a verb and as a past tense of the verb to pass.
Here is another sentence:
I walked past the white cow on my way to school.
Here you would be using a preposition to show where you went or your position.
It is incorrect to say I walked pass the white cow on my way to school. The word pass is a verb and cannot be used to modify another verb or to show a position in space. Although the two words pass and past sound alike they are different parts of speech and so must be used in ways appropriate to their function.
The old truck creaked past.
Here you would be using an adverb to show how the truck moved.
When you are giving directions you also need to be careful about which word to use. You can say:
Walk past the library and then you will come to the police station.
Or
When you pass the library you will come to the police station.
So if we return to the first two sentences at the top of the page you now know why sentence one is correct – I walked past the school. You do not need a verb there for the sentence already has a verb which is walked. You use past as a preposition to show your position. It shows or tells where you are- past the school.
The second sentence is not correct – I walked pass the school – because pass is a verb and the sentence already has a verb walked.
A useful tip to help you remember the difference between past, passed and pass is that past is never used as a verb.
Past is not a verb.