Passed or Past?

[Phil Brown]

I recently found my manuscript contained both spellings of the word, passed and past, and I began to wonder which was right. After reading some not very conclusive references I decided that

Past should refer to time: It happened in the past.
Passed should refer to place: We walked passed the store.

This distinction is clear and precise.

Any thoughts?

 

[The Ace]

Nope, you walked past the store. Wonderful language english.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

No, you've still go it wrong. The biggest distinction is that they are different parts of speech. Passed is a verb (the past tense of pass) it describes an action. Past can be a noun or an adjective, and it does indeed refer to time, but also distance.

It happened in the past.
We walked past the store.

As we walked, we passed the store.
We passed the paper from hand to hand.

 

[Sephiroth]

Exactly.

Being incredibly pernickety, passed is the past tense of to pass.

 

[dustinzgirl]

It happened in the past.
We walked past the store.

As we walked, we passed the store.
We passed the paper from hand to hand.

Oo this looks like a fun game.

As we walked past the store, we wondered at the window we passed as it was wonderfully whimsical of warriors we recognized from the past.

Am I doing it right?




(I know, I'm a stinker)

 

[Sephiroth]

In the passed, as I walked passed the store, I used to wonder if life had past me by, and whether or not I really knew anything about passed participles. But all that is passed now, I have past that stage in my life, and now I am content not to live in the passed any more.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Yes, dusty, you're doing it right.

In the passed, as I walked passed the store, I used to wonder if life had past me by, and whether or not I really knew anything about passed participles. But all that is passed now, I have past that stage in my life, and now I am content not to live in the passed any more.

Tsk, tsk, now you're going to confuse people.

 

[Sephiroth]

*laughs*

Sorry, I'm a bad little boy.....

 

[dustinzgirl]

Past plump, Penolope picked pansies she passed patiently, pondering the pride and prime of her past pubescent period.

Say that ten times fast. HA HA HA

 

[Sephiroth]

*extricates his tongue from several knots*

I absolutely love the second clause of that sentence!

 

[Chaser]

People passed Peter Pastatelli, who was passing the pawn shop past the purple postbox in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Phew!

 

[Giovanna Clairval]

A little poem for you, Phil.

Past is past, for it passed me by.
Present will pass, and I don’t know why.
I’m a past master in living though.
And the past tense I shall forgo.


Giovanna

 

[Chaser]

That's a good poem Giovanna.

 

[Sephiroth]

I love the poem, Giovanna. Succinct, and sleek.

 

[Giovanna Clairval]

*blushing*