Can "walk past" be replaced by "pass"?

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EdisonBhola

Senior Member
Korean
The sentence I have in mind is like this:

This morning, I (walked past/passed) the library and saw Peter studying inside.

I know "walked past" is correct when describing someone walking from one end of the library to the other end. But, can "passed" be used this way to convey the same meaning?

Many thanks!
 
    • Your question is unclear. It should be probably be styled, This morning I (walked past)/(passed) the library....

    Yes, you could say, "I passed the library and saw Peter studying inside." You might notice a slight change, widening, of meaning. "Passed" could mean, say, 'passed in a car.'

    You can even say, to make the mode clear, "Walking, I passed the library and saw Peter inside."

    What you cannot say, is "I walked passed the library and saw Peter studying inside."
     
    Last edited:
    Thanks!

    If I change the sentence a little, does it still work?

    "Pass the library and you will see Peter inside."

    To mean:

    "Walk past the library and you will see Peter inside."
     
    Hi,

    Just to confirm it's grammatical to say

    "I used to pass by that area everyday"
    "I used to pass by there everyday"

    How about the below? Not dramatically?

    "I used to walk past that area everyday"
    "I used to walk past there everyday"
     
    zhonglin said:
    Hi,

    Just to confirm it's grammatical to say

    "I used to pass by that area everyday"
    "I used to pass by there everyday"

    How about the below? Not dramatically?

    "I used to walk past that area everyday"
    "I used to walk past there everyday"
    Click to expand...

    These are all fine to say, but every day should be two words in these examples.
     
    When you just use "pass", we don't know how you were moving: walking, driving a car, riding in a bus, ...
    To put it another way, "pass" is much closer to "go past" than it is to "walk past."
     
    Let's say in front of me are many people blocking my way. In this context, does it matter whether I use "walk past" or "pass by"? As in:

    Could you please let me (walk past/pass by)?

    Many thanks!
     
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