Gems of My Crown ~ Passed vs. Past

Yes, yes. Here we are again with another edition of Gems of My Crown. This week, we’re discussing passed vs. past, a pair that slips into manuscripts far more often than it should.

Though these words are closely related, they are not interchangeable.

Passed

The word passed is the past tense of the verb pass. It refers to moving by something, handing something over, succeeding in a test, or the act of time moving forward.

Because it is a verb form, it shows action.

Example:
He passed the car in the left lane.

Another example:
She passed him the keys without saying a word.

Another example:
Three hours passed before they heard from him.

Past

The word past is most commonly used as a noun, adjective, adverb, or preposition. It refers to a previous time, something beyond a point, or movement beyond a location.

Unlike passed, it is not a verb in these common uses.

Example:
She refused to let her past define her.

Another example:
He walked past the house without stopping.

Another example:
It was well past midnight when they arrived.

The Difference

If an action is taking place, you likely want passed.

If you are referring to time gone by, a former period, or movement beyond something, you likely want past.

And please be careful in those action scenes.

Your character may have passed the police car.
They did not drive past it and then somehow also past the test and past out from confusion.

Though these words are related in origin and pronunciation, they serve different grammatical purposes and should not be used interchangeably.