做「“past” papers」去「pass」考試 📝
本篇,我想談談兩個經常被混淆的單字 –「past」和「pass」。
這兩個單字都有著許多不同的「版本」,每個均扮演不同的文法角色和表達不同的意思。
它們所衍生的版本,似乎都與對方有意思上的「聯繫」。這是因為它們在英文過往演變中,的確有著歷史的淵源。
這些歷史原因使它們在意思上、甚至發音上都十分相似,以至現今人們也很容易就混淆兩者的用法。但其實它們在現代英文是兩個完全獨立的單字,並各有自己的功能和含義。
我們先分別了解一下它們。
「past」(/pæst/為 一般美式發音; /pɑst/ 為一般英式發音) 有許多不同的角色與含意。
首先,它可以是個名詞,表達「以前/過去」的意思:
In the past, people wrote letters by hand.
在過去,人們用手寫信
它也可以是個形容詞,表達「過去的」:
She reflected on past events.
她回想過去的事情
它也可以是介詞(preposition),與連接在它之後的名詞組組成介詞組,表達「過了(某地方/東西)」。
She walked past the store.
她走過那家店
它同樣可以作為副詞,表達「過了語境中的某一點」:
He ran past.
他跑過了
(過了講者在的位置)
至於「pass」 (/pæs/ 或 /pɑs/) 一詞分別有動詞和名詞的版本。
而無論「pass」是動詞或名詞,它在不同的語境中都能傳遞許多不一樣的意思。我在這裡先列舉一些。
第一,作為動詞時,它可以表達「經過/走過」或「過去」的意思:
We passed them on the way here.
我們在來這裡的路上經過了 / 超越了他們
A lot of time has passed.
很長時間過去了
另外,它也可以表達「合格」的意思:
He passed the math test.
他通過了數學考試
它還有其他不同的動詞意思,例如「交給 / 傳遞」、「穿過」、「過世」、「(在遊戲中) 放棄回合」等等:
She passed me the salt.
她把鹽遞給我
The kids have to pass through this opening to get to the slide.
孩子們必須穿過這個開口才能到達滑梯
He passed away last year.
他去年過世了
He passed, so it was my turn again.
他棄權,所以又輪到我了
作為名詞時,「pass」可意指「穿過某物的路徑或開口」和「許可證」等:
We hiked through the mountain pass.
我們徒步穿過山口
He has a pass to go backstage.
他有到後台的通行證
由此可見,「past」和「pass」能表達的各種意思,大多都與「過」有關,因此即使兩者的發音(「past」最後有額外的 /t/) 與書寫串法都不一樣,大眾仍然經常把它們混淆。
我們在使用動詞「pass」的過去式字形時更特別容易混淆。因為「passed」這個字形的發音同樣是/pæst/ 或 /pɑst/,即在最後也有 /t/ – 這跟「past」字的發音是一模一樣的。
「passed」和 「past」 的發音一樣,因此在對話時混淆了它們也不會有問題;但由於串法不同,書寫時就不能出錯了。
以下是一些常見的書寫錯誤:
A lot of time has past. ❌
很長時間過去了
(A lot of time has passed ✅)
He past away last year. ❌
他去年過世了
(He passed away last year. ✅)
She walked passed the store. ❌
她走過那家店
(She walked past the store. ✅)
「Past」既非動詞,亦非動詞「pass」的過去分詞(past participle)字形,因此不應該像首兩組句子一樣,被用作限定動詞的一部分。
第三句中,我們需要用介詞「past」組成介詞組「past the store」來修飾子句中限定動詞的核心動作「she walked」,所以「passed」(「pass」的過去式字形)是不正確的。
但這些句子說話時不會造成問題,因為「passed」和「past」有相同的發音。
我也曾聽到過一些學生把「past papers」(以往考試的試卷)說成是 「pass papers ❌」,只因他們以為那些試卷是用來使考試「合格」(pass) 的。
但其實這詞組的正確真正意思是「過去的」(past)試卷,即以前的考試卷。名詞組「past papers」中的「past」個形容詞,意指「過去的」。
下次當你要使用「past」或「pass」(以及其過去式動詞字形)「passed」,記得多注意它們的分別了。
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小練習:
請用「past」或「pass」(或「passed」)填充以下句子。
The train ___________ through the tunnel without stopping.
火車沒有停下便穿過了隧道We just saw a plane fly ______________.
我們剛看到一架飛機飛過
___________________
答案:
passed
past
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Doing “Past” Papers to “Pass” the Exam 📝
This week, I want to write about two words that are often mixed up: “past” and “pass.”
These two words both have a lot of different “versions,” each playing a different grammatical role and expressing a different meaning.
Many of their various meanings seem “related” to each other. That is because these two words were historically related to each other in older forms of English.
Because of this historical relatedness -- which gives them similar meanings as well as nearly identical pronunciations -- these two words are easily mixed up in modern usage, even though they are now separate words with independent functions and meanings.
Let’s look at them separately first.
The word “past” (/pæst/ in general American pronunciation or with the vowel /ɑ/, /pɑst/, in general British pronunciation) has a lot of different roles and meanings.
First, it can be a noun, expressing the meaning of “以前/過去":
In the past, people wrote letters by hand.
在過去,人們用手寫信
It can also be an adjective, expressing the meaning of “過去的":
She reflected on past events.
她回想過去的事情
It can also be a preposition, forming prepositional phrases with noun phrases after it to express “過了(某地方/東西)":
She walked past the store.
她走過那家店
It can also be an adverb by itself, expressing the meaning of “過了語境中的某一點":
He ran past.
他跑過了
(過了講者在的位置)
Now, the word “pass” (/pæs/ or /pɑs/) has a verb version and a noun version.
Both as a verb and as a noun, the word “pass” can express a lot of different meanings in different contexts as well. I will list some of them here.
First, as a verb, it can express the meaning of “經過/走過" or “過去":
We passed them on the way here.
我們在來這裡的路上經過了 / 超越了他們
A lot of time has passed.
很長時間過去了
As a verb, it can also express the meaning of “合格”:
He passed the math test.
他通過了數學考試
It can also variously mean “交給 / 傳遞,” “穿過,” “過世,” “(在遊戲中) 放棄回合" etc.:
She passed me the salt.
她把鹽遞給我
The kids have to pass through this opening to get to the slide.
孩子們必須穿過這個開口才能到達滑梯
He passed away last year.
他去年過世了
He passed, so it was my turn again.
他棄權,所以又輪到我了
As a noun, “pass” can mean “穿過某物的路徑或開口” and “許可證" etc.:
We hiked through the mountain pass.
我們徒步穿過山口
He has a pass to go backstage.
他有到後台的通行證
As we can see, “past” and “pass” can variously express different meanings, many of which seem “similar” (related to “過"), and that is why it is easy to mix them up despite their different pronunciations (“past” has an extra /t/ at the end) and different spellings.
It is especially easy to mix them up when we are using the verb “pass” in past tense form -- because the form, “passed,” is pronounced /pæst/ or /pɑst/ as well, with an extra /t/ at the end which makes it the same exact pronunciation as “past.”
Because the pronunciations of “passed” (past tense form of the verb “pass”) and “past” are identical, mixing them up is not a problem in speaking, but it would be a mistake to mix them up in writing because they are represented by different spellings.
For example, these are common mistakes in writing:
A lot of time has past. ❌
很長時間過去了
(A lot of time has passed ✅)
He past away last year. ❌
他去年過世了
(He passed away last year. ✅)
She walked passed the store. ❌
她走過那家店
(She walked past the store. ✅)
“Past” is not a verb, and it is not the past participle form of the verb “pass,” so “past” would not be a part of any finite verb form, like in the first two sentences.
In the third sentence, we need the preposition “past” to form the prepositional “past the store” to modify the finite verb’s action of the clause, “she walked,” so the form “passed” (the past tense finite verb form of the verb “pass”) is not correct.
These sentences would be fine when spoken, though, because “passed” and “past” have identical pronunciations.
I have also heard students wrongly refer to “past papers” (以往考試的試卷)as “pass papers ❌” -- because they thought that these are papers to do to “pass” the exam.
The meaning of this noun phrase is actually that the “papers” are “past” -- as in, they were used in an exam in the past. The word “past” in the noun phrase “past papers” is an adjective meaning “過去的.”
Try to pay more attention to the words “past” and “pass” (as well as the past tense form of the verb “pass” -- “passed”) the next time you have to use them!
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Mini Exercise:
Use “past” or “pass” (or “passed”) to finish the following sentences.
The train ___________ through the tunnel without stopping.
火車沒有停下便穿過了隧道We just saw a plane fly ______________.
我們剛看到一架飛機飛過
___________________
Answers:
passed
past
_________________
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