Sound-alike words

Passed vs. Past

Passed is the past tense of the verb pass: we passed the bakery. Past is a noun, adjective, preposition or adverb about time gone by or going beyond: we walked past the bakery.

Word	Part of speech	Meaning
passed	verb	past tense and past participle of pass: went by, moved ahead, handed over or succeeded
past	adjective	gone by in time; earlier or former
past	preposition	beyond or by a place, or later than a time

Passed

verb: past tense and past participle of pass: went by, moved ahead, handed over or succeeded

A truck passed us on the highway.
Ana passed her driving test on the first try.

Past

adjective: gone by in time; earlier or former

Over the past week, it has rained every afternoon.
In past years, the county fair was held in August.

preposition: beyond or by a place, or later than a time

Walk past the post office and turn left.
It's already past midnight, so let's go to bed.

How to remember the difference

If the sentence needs a verb, an action that happened, use passed with -ed. If you could swap in beyond or earlier, use past.

Good to know

The tricky case is movement. In she passed me, passed is the verb. In she walked past me, walked is already the verb, so past is right. Past is also a noun: learn from the past.

Spot the mistake

Time ~~past~~ passed slowly while we waited for the doctor.
Correct: Time passed slowly while we waited for the doctor.
We drove ~~passed~~ past the stadium on the way home.
Correct: We drove past the stadium on the way home.

Check yourself

Pick the word that fits each sentence.

1. Grace the ball to Omar, who scored.

2. The museum is just the bridge on the left.