Passed and past are homophones in English and are often confused; they are both pronounced /pɑːst/ <add audio icon> but have different spellings and their meanings are completely different.
passed
Passed is the past tense and past participle of the verb ‘to pass’.
As she passed the library door, the phone began to ring.
The children passed the time playing in the streets.
Kevin has just passed his driving test.
past
Past can be a noun, an adjective or a preposition. For example:
Noun: The past is the time before the present, and the things that have happened.
We would like to put the past behind us.
Adjective: You use past to talk about a period of time that has just finished.
Most shops have remained closed for the past three days.
Preposition: If you go past someone or something, you go near them and keep moving, so that they are then behind you.
I dashed past him and out of the door.
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