Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use past in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun, adjective, adverb

Past means the period of time that has already happened, in contrast to the present and the future. Example: “I watched him walk past.”

Examples of past by meaning

nounThe 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
  • The Mesozoic landscape of southeastern Utah can tell us much about the past, and it's one of the most intriguing and beautiful landscapes on Earth.2012, Chinle Miller, In Mesozoic Lands: The Mesozoic Geology of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, Kindle edition

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

  • That had been, what, three years past?1999, George R.R. Martin, A Clash of Kings, Bantam, published 2011, page 538
  • Some four decades past, as a boy, I had a chance encounter and conversation with the late W.A.2009, John Sadler, Glencoe, Amberley, published 2009, page 20

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

  • during the past year
  • It is the first time an outgoing president has failed to win a first-round vote in the past 50 years and makes it harder for Sarkozy to regain momentum.2012 April 23, Angelique Chrisafis, “François Hollande on top but far right scores record result in French election”, in The Guardian

adverbIn a direction that passes.

  • I watched him walk past.

prepositionBeyond in place or quantity.

  • the room past mine
  • count past twenty

prepositionAny 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
  • But they were stunned when Glen Johnson's error let in Peter Odemwingie to fire past Pepe Reina on 75 minutes.2012 April 22, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0-1 West Brom”, in BBC Sport

prepositionNo longer capable of.

  • I'm past caring what he thinks of me.

prepositionPassing by, especially without stopping or being delayed.

  • Ignore them, we'll play past them.
  • Please don't drive past the fruit stand, I want to stop there.

More sentences with past

  • My old encyclopedia has been gathering dust on the shelf for the past decade.From the entry encyclopedia
  • As I tiptoed past the sleeping dog, my heart was pounding but I remained silent.From the entry pound
  • After the past week of forced marches, only half the men are fully able.From the entry able
  • "To buy" is an irregular English verb: its past simple and past participle tense is "bought".From the entry irregular
  • "Walked" is the past tense of the regular verb "to walk".From the entry regular
  • English only has a past tense and a non-past tense; it has no future tense.From the entry tense
  • They were chagrined to see that the price of diesel had climbed past six dollars a gallon.From the entry diesel
  • Carry on past the church and then bear left at the junction.From the entry bear
  • The long history of the past does not lend itself to a simple black and white interpretation.From the entry lend
  • Each morning, she would see a certain man rush past her window on his way to work.From the entry certain
  • The free safety made a game-saving tackle on the runner who had broken past the linebackers.From the entry safety
  • Try to look past his foibles and see the friendly fellow underneath.From the entry foible
  • The verb to run is strong, not weak, because the past tense is ran.From the entry weak
  • In his speech, the candidate obliquely referenced the past failures of his opponent.From the entry reference
  • My tensions with Eric over his alleged past actions have been fully resolved.From the entry tension
  • The region's economy is buoyed by tourism driven by past apparitions of the Virgin Mary.From the entry apparition
  • How do you get past the flying creatures in the third stage?From the entry stage
  • He got lucky in the past week with two different women.From the entry get lucky
  • I can skip past all the traffic on my bike by filtering.From the entry filter
  • People claiming to be psychic may shoehorn an event into fulfillment of some vague past prediction.From the entry shoehorn
  • She harbors a conviction that her husband has a secret, criminal past.From the entry harbor
  • I've been ill with the flu for the past few days.From the entry ill
  • I walked past the poker tables and went straight to the slots.From the entry slot
  • The video game involves guiding a character on a skateboard past all kinds of hazards.From the entry hazard
  • The weekly email digest contains all the messages exchanged during the past week.From the entry digest
  • Past the point, the shore retires into a sequence of coves.From the entry retire

Meaning of past

  1. noun The period of time that has already happened, in contrast to the present and the future.
  2. noun The past tense.
  3. adjective Having already happened; in the past; finished.

Full definition of past

Questions about past in a sentence

How do you use past in a sentence?
Past is used as a noun, adjective and adverb. For example: “I watched him walk past.”
What is a short sentence with past?
“count past twenty”
What does past mean?
Past means the period of time that has already happened, in contrast to the present and the future.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: past (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use past in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/past. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.