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PlainSpell

past

/pæst/noun, adjective, adverb, preposition

past is spelled P-A-S-T: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 229 times per million words in written English, the 437th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “passed vs past” about 14,800 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, past means “The period of time that has already happened, in contrast to the present and the future” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of past is pasts.

How many letters and syllables are in past?

Letters4: P-A-S-T
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing229 times per million words; the 437th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Sounds like
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is past?

Past appears 229 times per million words in written English, the 437th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce past?

  • UK /pɑːst/
  • Canada /past/
  • US /pæst/

Past has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Back_ache-past.wav, En-us-past.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with past

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

passed vs past14,800 G

Sounds like: passed (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with past?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as past from its last stressed vowel (/æst/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: taps, spat.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of past

  • pasts plural
  • more past comparative
  • most past superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does past mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    The period of time that has already happened, in contrast to the present and the future.

    a book about a time machine that can transport people back into the past

  2. 2

    The past tense.

adjective

  1. 1

    Having already happened; in the past; finished.

    past glories

  2. 2

    Following expressions of time to indicate how long ago something happened; ago.

  3. 3

    Of a period of time: having just gone by; previous.

    during the past year

  4. 4

    Of a tense, expressing action that has already happened or a previously-existing state.

    past tense

adverb

  1. 1

    In a direction that passes.

    I watched him walk past.

preposition

  1. 1

    Beyond in place or quantity.

    the room past mine

  2. 2

    Any number of minutes after the last hour.

    What's the time? - It's now quarter past twelve midday (or 12.15pm) -O,K., we'll stop at half (past) twelve

  3. 3

    No longer capable of.

    I'm past caring what he thinks of me.

  4. 4

    Having recovered or moved on from (a traumatic experience, etc.).

  5. 5

    Passing by, especially without stopping or being delayed.

    Ignore them, we'll play past them.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Past in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchpassé (period of time that has already happened), dernier (of a period of time: having just gone by), devant (in a direction that passes), après (beyond in place)
GermanVergangenheit (period of time that has already happened), vorbei (in a direction that passes), nach, hinter (beyond in place), Präteritum ((grammar) past tense), vergangen (having already happened; in the past)
Portuguesepassado (period of time that has already happened), por (aqui) (in a direction that passes), além de, depois de (beyond in place), pretérito ((grammar) past tense)
Spanishpasado (period of time that has already happened), por, por delante (in a direction that passes), pretérito, tiempo pasado ((grammar) past tense)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does past come from?

From Middle English passed, past participle of passen (“to pass, to go by”), whence Modern English pass.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after past