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Grammatical Clarity: ‘Walk past’ vs. ‘Walk pass’ – Are They the Same?

Grammatical Clarity: ‘Walk past’ vs. ‘Walk pass’ – Are They the Same?

“Walk past” and “walk pass” are two different words. “Walk past” is correct in terms of grammar and usage.

A walk pass cannot be used in any way. A noun needs an adverb to be meaningful, so “walk past” contains an adverb “past,” which fulfills the meaning of “walk,” which is a verb.

On the other hand, “walk pass” is an incorrect word that should not be used. “Pass” can be a noun or a verb but not an adverb, so using “walk pass” seems to be the wrong version of grammar usage.

A walk pass must be a permit, to go for a walk. It may refer to a lane that leads to something, while “walk past” means to amble by.

People use words according to their understanding of grammar. Small details can help you correct your vocabulary and grammar with spelling. This article will help you differentiate between “walk pass” and “walk past,” along with the addressing of mistakes that all of us usually make.

How can you explain the use of “walk past?”

Below are some of the examples that will allow us to have better understanding of the word “walk past.”

Selena tends to walk past a picket fence on her way home.

I will walk past Aunt Michaela’s house after school.

Did you get an idea of how this walk past can be used in our daily life sentences?

I hope you did, but even if you didn’t, keep reading to build a deeper understanding with examples and discussions down below.

What is meant by “walk past”?

Walk past is a phrasal verb. It has two parts, i.e. a verb and an adverb. “Walk” is a verb, while “past” is an adverb supporting and defining the meaning of “walk”.

Walking past something means changing your position with it. So, there is an object that you walk past. So you walk past it, and it then follows you. It means that you have left behind something that was just in front of you, or that you intended to leave it behind after visiting it.

“Walk past” refers to visiting something and then continuing your journey.

Here’s a person “walking past” a crowd

What is “walk pass”?

Walk past’ is the only correct standard form, but in English dialects, it is not tolerated much.

Both ‘walk past” and “walked past’ would automatically become “walk pas,” and that would be correct for that dialect in both cases.

This reduction in tense does eliminate tense, but it is not true in some cases. Since the context and redundancy would make it clear what the tense is saying.

Language change is slow but inevitable, and speakers find many ways to cope with change so that communication does not become impossible.

It seems impolite to mock someone for their dialect and grammar. But correcting someone’s grammar politely and respectfully is a good thing to do.

Is “walk pass” a correct word?

“Walk pass” is an unacceptable word because “walk” and “pass” are both verbs. We cannot combine two verbs as it is against the rules of English grammar. Past is a descriptive word that provides meaning for “walking” It forms a meaningful phrase “walk past” which means to pass by or go through something and then leave it behind.

Pass is also interchangeable as “to pass”, “the pass” or ” a pass”, it can be used as a noun, verb, or adjective. But using it as “walk pass” is grammatically incorrect and meaningless.

Walk past means you walk along and don’t stop. “Walk pass” contains the repetition of words, walk is unnecessarily used in this phrase as “Pass” which is holding the same meaning. Both the words have individual meanings, therefore cannot be used collectively.

In addition, the past tense form of the verb “to pass” is formed by appending —ed to the end of the verb “pass,” resulting in the passing of the subject. It’s because “passed” sounds similar to the adverb “past” in the past tense verb

A man walking past a bulky van

Which one is correct, walk pass or walk past?

Walk past is correct, while walk pass is extremely inaccurate. Walk past describes that a person is walking or passing by, while “walk” pass is a noun describing a pass-by or a lane.

In context of “walk pass,” neither of them is a helping verb; they are both verbs, which is incorrect.

A “walk pass” could refer to a piece of paper that grants the holder permission to walk. It would be extremely unusual for it to be what people were trying to express. It’s fine to “walk past” or “pass” a car, but it’s not okay to “walk pass” one. Even though “walk pass” is incorrect, a car cannot walk and thus does not require a pass to do so.

A walk pass doesn’t mean anything, it is only valid if you are physically giving a pass to someone. The first phrase (walk past) refers to walking past someone. i.e. to approach them and walk past them until you are walking away from them. The second (walk pass) is completely meaningless.

Walk pass means granting permission to walk, and walking past or besides something without any acknowledgment for that thing or person.

Which one is correct, ‘he walked passed us’ or ‘he walked past us’?

Past cannot be the same as “passed”. Passed is the third form of pass. So in this case, ” he walked past us” is the right phrase. As walked and passed are the past tenses of walk and pass, they cannot be used together.

“He walked past us” is the correct phrase. Past is an adverb, it describes the word “walked”.

Passed is the past tense of “pass” and it is used individually, not collectively.

The following examples will give you some understanding about these phrases,

I pass by this house while going to work.

I passed her house yesterday.

I walked past her house last night.

Each sentence contains a subject and a predicate. The noun or the subject is usually present at the start of a sentence. The verb is present adjacent to a subject, defining the purpose of a subject. It varies with who is speaking and the number of subjects that are present in a sentence.

Overall, the rules of Grammar are lengthy and require close scrutinizing. The same can be said about the the English Language.

Check out our video explainer about the difference between “walk past” and “walk pass”

Past and Passed in grammar

Past can be used as a noun, an adjective, or a preposition. The present tense verb is suffixed with -ed to form passed. In modern English, the entire term must have a visible form. The verb pass has the same meaning as the last meaning of the past.

If someone passes by, the word “walk” is not used.

It is only used to define the way someone passed by, therefore “past” is used along with a walk.

As in,

He walked past my house while going to the school.

He passed us on the drive-thru.

A man is given a “walk-pass” for a mountain

The table below shows the examples of uses of “Past” in English language,

As an adverbHe walked past us so quickly, that we couldn’t stop him
As an adjectiveThe Past year has been very traumatizing for all of us.
As a nounThe past shall not be remembered, get over it.
As a prepositionI had to get there at five, it’s already half-past four.
Various uses of “past” in the English language

What is the proper English, “as you walked past me” or “as you walked past me?”

The phrase “as you walked past me” is correct in so many ways. Walking past something means to get beyond that particular thing, while “passed” refers to passing on something or handling stuff.

As stated in this example i.e., He passed me an apple, you can see that “passed refers to a verb. It is not used as an adverb over here.

He walked past me while I was studying. In this case ” walked past” defines the motion of a person and the state of his action. it is used as an adverb here, making complete sense.

So, the correct phrase is “as he was; walked past us”, it clears out the state of a person who was walking and then left.

In contrast to that, “past” cannot be used in place of “passed”. if you passed by a river, you cannot “past” by that.

All in all, the second phrase is ungrammatical and doesn’t have a proper function. It is meaningless.

Which one is correct, “he walked passed me in disgust” or” he walked past me in disgust”?

According to the literal meaning of walk past, the second phrase is correct i.e., He walked past me in disgust. In this phrase walked past is used as a preposition, which is indicating the position of the subject. it also means beyond something. While the former one is incorrect, giving a meaningless sentence.

Passed cannot be used with a walk or walked, because two verbs if used together, are restraining the grammatical rules.

Is there any difference between “walk past someone” and “walk by someone”?

Yes, there is a minor difference between the two phrases. Past means going beyond something and refers to “near” or “close”.

To use “by,” we need to elaborate the sentence with a phrase telling the exact position or area, while past doesn’t need such explanation.

To walk past someone means not to stop or acknowledge, even if someone expected it.

While

To walk by tells us that there is no need to stop or acknowledge.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, “walk past” and “walk pass” are separate from each other. “Walk past” is a grammatically correct one, while “walk pass” is vague and meaningless. It has no context unless it is referred to as a permission for accessing a track or a road that leads to a destination.

Whenever you use “passed or pass”, it indicates a movement and using “past” refers to time.

Subsequently, “walk past” defines the motion of a person who was just walking and is beyond that place. But “walk past” may refer to a foot track that shows a way to a mountain or any huge object. ” “Walk” is an adverb modifying the verb “walk.” “Pass” is a verb that cannot be used aside from “walk.” This is grammatically incorrect.

So, walked past is the correct phrase.

All you need to do is to consult various dictionaries while writing an essay or forming a simple sentence. It would reduce all the errors and spelling mistakes that you might encounter. One can look up all the examples of the phrases that are used, and select which is best suited in their context.

This would lead to a much greater understanding of the English language and grammar.

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