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past
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- pronunciation:
- paest
- parts of speech:
- adjective, noun, preposition, adverb
- features:
- Homophone Note, Word Explorer
| part of speech: |
adjective |
| definition 1: |
When something is past, it is over. It is not happening anymore.
The storm is now past and the sun is out.- antonyms:
- current, present
- similar words:
- previous
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| definition 2: |
A past thing is something that happened at an earlier time.
In past times, people didn't have electricity.History tells us about past events.- antonyms:
- current, future, modern, present
- similar words:
- former, old, previous
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| definition 3: |
If you were at the beach this past Tuesday, it means that you were at the beach on the Tuesday just before now. If you talk about the past year, you mean the year that happened just before this year.
During the past hour, three buses came to the library and left.- antonyms:
- next
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| definition 4: |
In grammar, a "past" form of a verb is a form that tells you that the action of the verb happened sometime before now. When we say "I walked there," the form "walked" means the same thing as "walk," but we know the walking happened some time before now--in the past--because of the past form "walked." In grammar, we say that forms like "walked" or "slept" are "past tense" forms. A "tense" is a way a language has of showing the time of the action of the verb--whether the time is now, before now, or in the future.
"Looked," "baked," "went," and "bought" are past forms of verbs in English. They are past tense forms of the verbs "look," "bake," "go," and "buy." Usually, past tense forms end in "-ed" in English, but some verbs, like "go" and "buy" are exceptions. |
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| part of speech: |
noun |
| definition 1: |
The past is all the time before now. Things that happened yesterday, last week, or ten years ago, are all in the past now.
In the past, before people had cars, they sometimes rode horses, or they rode in carriages that were pulled by horses.- antonyms:
- future, present
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| definition 2: |
A nation's past, is the story of that country up to now. When you study America's past, you study the history of America.
The discovery of gold in California was an important event in the nation's past. |
| definition 3: |
Your past is your life before now, or a particular period or time of your life before now.
My grandfather often thinks about the things he did in his past and smiles. |
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| part of speech: |
preposition |
| definition 1: |
"Past" sometimes means "after." When it is ten minutes past five o'clock, it means that it is ten minutes after five o'clock.
Sergio said he would meet me at my house at noon, but he didn't come until twenty minutes past noon.- antonyms:
- before
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| definition 2: |
When you go past a place, you go beside it for a while and then keep going.
Every time I walk past our neighbor's house, their dog barks at me.
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| definition 3: |
When something is past something else, it is farther away than the other thing as you go or look towards it. Let's say the post office is past the library. If you are walking down the street, you will get to the library before you get to the post office.
My friend Darryl's building is on our street just past the little grocery store.- antonyms:
- before
- similar words:
- outside
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| definition 4: |
When you are past ten years old, it means that you are older than or more than ten years old.
My little sister was past three years old when she talked for the first time. |
| related words: |
through |
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| part of speech: |
adverb |
| definition: |
If you see your brother and run past, it means that you run by him without stopping.
Erica's mom waved for the taxi, but it drove past. |
The words past and passed sound alike but have different meanings. Passed is the past tense form of the verb pass, while past means "a time before now" (noun) or "in a time before now (adjective)."
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