Passed vs past

Question

Please tell me which is the appropriate word to use in the following phrases:

"Passed/Past filing time limits" (this is a phrase we use at work to say that a claim was denied because it was not filed in a timely manner).

"Passed/Past timely filing" (the same meaning as above, just worded differently)

This has quite a few people stumped. I have been using "passed" in both cases. I've been trying to think how the phrases "past due" and "passed away" are used, but it's no help.

Thanks!

Cheryl

HotWombat · Accepted Answer

My information is from 'The Penguin Working Words' published 1993.

Passed is the past tense and past participle of the verb to pass:

We passed the town we once lived in.
We have passed the point of no return.

Past is the adjective, adverb, noun and preposition:

My past [adjective] life flashed past [adverb[ as images of a distant past [noun] when I drove past [preposition] my old school.

Hope that helps, Cheryl.

Miriam · Answer

That's a great example!

HotWombat · Answer

Thank you Miriam.

Anonymous · Answer

past = relates to TIME or DISTANCE

passed = verb, an action

Passed filing time limits" (this is a phrase we use at work to say that a claim was denied because it was not filed in a timely manner). - assuming that the filing has occured.

Past timely filing" (the same meaning as above, just worded differently) - the event has occured in the past,

I'm not too sure of the interpretation of the sentences above, and have therefore assumed an understanding.

Anonymous · Answer

It helped me, just having one of these horrible doubts about whether I should use Past or Passed !!!! Mind you, as a foreigner, I guess I have an excuse :-)) Thank you, Hervé.

Anonymous · Answer

Both terms should use "past", not "passed".

"Past filing time limits" is an abbreviation for "this claim was denied because it was filed past the filing time limit", in which "past" is an preposition. You could replace "past" with "beyond", and have the same meaning, and "beyond" is more obviously a preposition.

"Past timely filing" is similar, "past" can again be replaced with "beyond".

The use of "passed" in these contexts could be confusing, because "passed filing time limits" could only be correctly read as meaning that when the test "is this claim within the filing time limit" was applied, the claim passed, ie succeeded, in the same sense as "passed identity checks".

Anonymous · Answer

This has bothered me for a while also. It appears that the commom usage for overdue payments is "past due" (something that was due previously). But if you apply the normal definition, passed (beyond a point) due makes more sense.

The amount is 30 days passed due. Most people use the former however and I doubt you'd get called on it.

Anonymous · Answer

This was just explained to be by a good friend who majored in English. She says that past is to explain a point in time or history "20 years in the past" and passed is to explain an action "we just passed that sign."

I found her definitions very useful.

Thanks!

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