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Past vs. Passed 527 Views


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Want even more deets on Past vs. Passed? Click here to review. Or take a look at our entire grammar section for all the goods.

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Transcript

00:04

Past versus Passed, a la Shmoop. They may both start with the same letter...

00:11

...and they may sound like the same word when you say them out loud...

00:15

...but "past" and "passed" are different words with very different uses.

00:26

The word "past"...

00:27

...spelled "p-a-s-t"...

00:28

...is a noun that refers to a long time ago.

00:31

For example, Great-Aunt Lila still wears clothes from the Forties because she lives in the

00:38

past.

00:39

Or, the Civil War was in the past...

00:45

...although there are some folks who may argue this point.

00:51

The word "passed"...

00:53

...spelled "p-a-s-s-e-d"...

00:55

...is a verb that means you're going by something.

01:00

You might say, "I passed by the store on the way to school"...

01:04

...or, "I passed a really creepy guy dressed like Hello Kitty at Comic-Con last weekend."

01:12

Now, given that "past" and "passed" can sound like the same word, how do you know

01:17

which one you should use?

01:19

Think of it this way. What sound do you hear when a car passes you? Whoosssssssh.

01:28

That "sssssssh" sound should remind you of the two "s"'s in the word "passed"...

01:32

...that's "passed" with a "d".

01:35

The word "past" with a "t" only has one "s", and so, sadly, whoossssssshing

01:42

is not an option. And that's it! "Past" with a "t" refers

01:48

to a long time ago...

01:49

...and "passed" with a "d" means you're going by something.

01:54

Now that you know the difference between these two words, all your confusion about this grammar

01:58

rule should be in the "past" with a "t"...

02:02

...along with bell-bottoms and mullets.

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