"Passed" vs "Past"

Pupils are often confused about the usage of these two words, "passed" and "past".

I will explain how these two words can be used below.

(A)Past 

Relates to location

The word past locates something in time and sometimes in space. It can be
used as an adjective, noun, or adverb.

(A.1) “Past” as an adjective

Meaning: "Gone by in time; elapsed; done with; over" (Source: Oxford English Dictionary)

Example:

• The days for celebration are now past.
• I have not heard much of the actor for the past year.

Meaning: "belonging to an earlier time" (Source: Oxford English Dictionary)

Example:

• Past students attended the school concert.

(A.2) “Past” as a noun

Meaning: “The time that has gone by; a time, or all of the time, before the present” (Source: Oxford English Dictionary)

Example:

• Many people did not have access to the computer in the past.
• We cannot live in the past

Meaning: "A person's past life or career " (Source: Oxford English Dictionary)'

Example:

May did not know anything about her boyfriend's past.

(A.3) “Past” as a preposition

Meaning: “Beyond in time; after; beyond the age for or time of; (in stating the time of day) so many minutes, or a quarter or half of an hour, after a particular hour.” (Source: Oxford English Dictionary)

Example:

• It is almost half past six now. Are you hungry?

Meaning: “Beyond in place; further on than; at or on the further side of; to a point beyond.” (Oxford English Dictionary)

Example:

• My house is the one just past the shopping centre.

(A.4) “Past” as an adverb

Meaning:“So as to pass or go by; by.” (Source: Oxford English Dictionary)

Example: I walked past the library just now.

(B) Passed – a verb in the past tense

Passed is the past participle of the verb “to pass”. It can be an intransitive verb (one which does not require an object) or a transitive verb (one which requires both a subject and one or more objects).

“To pass” means “To proceed, move forward, depart; to cause to do this.” (Oxford English Dictionary) This can refer to movement forwards in time, in space, or in life (such as “to pass an examination”).

Example:

• “The months passed quickly.” (Intransitive: subject “the weeks” and no object).
• “I passed all my driving test!” (Transitive: subject “I” and object “driving test”.)
• “He passed the ball during the last five minutes of the game.” (Transitive: subject “He” and object “the ball”.)

~ Serena's Greenhouse