View source for Past

{{Short description|Events that occurred before a given time point}}
{{Other uses|PAST (disambiguation)|The Past (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Bouncing ball strobe edit.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|A picture of a basketball bouncing, composed of frames taken at different points in the past]]

The '''past''' is the set of all [[Spacetime#Definitions|events]] that occurred before a given point in [[time]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=past |url=http://www.dictionary.com/browse/past |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180626030605/http://www.dictionary.com/browse/past |archive-date=26 June 2018 |access-date=25 June 2018 |website=Dictionary.com |format=web article}}</ref> The past is contrasted with and defined by the [[present]] and the [[future]]. The concept of the past is derived from the linear fashion in which human observers experience time, and is accessed through [[memory]] and [[recollection]]. In addition, human beings have [[recorded history|recorded the past]] since the advent of written language.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Christian |first=David |title=Record Keeping and History: How We Chronicle the Past |url=https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/big-history-project/agriculture-civilization/first-cities-appear/a/recordkeeping-and-history |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180626030540/https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/big-history-project/agriculture-civilization/first-cities-appear/a/recordkeeping-and-history |archive-date=26 June 2018 |access-date=25 June 2018 |website=www.khanacademy.org |publisher=Khan Academy |format=web article}}</ref>

In English, the word ''past'' was one of the many variant forms and spellings of ''passed'', the past participle of the [[Middle English]] verb [[wikt:passen#Middle English|''passen'']] (whence Modern English ''pass''), among ''ypassed'', ''ypassyd'', ''i-passed'', ''passyd'', ''passid'', ''pass'd'', ''paste'', etc.<ref name=etymonline>{{cite web|website=Online Etymology Dictionary|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/past|title=past}}</ref> It developed into an adjective and preposition in the 14th century, and a noun (as in ''the past'' or ''a past'', through [[Ellipsis (linguistics)|ellipsis]] with the adjective ''past''<ref name=oxford>''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]''</ref>) in the 15th century.<ref>{{Cite web |date=n.d. |title=Past |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/past |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180724153928/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/past |archive-date=24 July 2018 |access-date=24 July 2018 |publisher=Merriam-Webster.com |format=Web}}</ref><ref name=etymonline/>

== Grammar ==
{{main|Past tense}}
[[File:The Cosmic Calendar Concept – deep time and cosmic history as one year (time-lapse and annotations).gif|thumb|upright=1.5|Sometimes, the past is visualized by scaling a fraction or all of the past to a time-span people are more familiar with. In the case of [[Cosmic Calendar]]s, the [[chronology of the universe]], including the [[history of Earth]], is compressed onto a single [[year]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Entire Universe in 1 Year |url=https://starwalk.space/en/infographics/entire-universe-in-1-year |website=Star Walk |access-date=31 March 2025 |language=en |date=11 April 2022}}</ref>]]
In English [[grammar]], actions are classified according to one of the following twelve verb tenses: past (past, [[Uses of English verb forms#Past progressive/continuous|uses of English verb forms]], [[past perfect]], or [[past perfect continuous]]), present ([[present]], [[present continuous]], [[present perfect]], or [[present perfect continuous]]), or future ([[future]], [[future continuous]], [[future perfect]], or [[future perfect continuous]]).<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web |title=Verb tenses |url=https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/grammar/verb-tenses |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180626030737/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/grammar/verb-tenses |archive-date=26 June 2018 |access-date=25 June 2018 |website=English Oxford Living Dictionaries |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref> The past tense refers to actions that have already happened. For example, "she is walking" refers to a girl who is currently walking (present tense), while "she walked" refers to a girl who was walking before now (past tense).

The past continuous tense refers to actions that continued for a period of time, as in the sentence "she was walking," which describes an action that was still happening in a prior window of time to which a speaker is presently referring. The past perfect tense is used to describe actions that were already completed by a specific point in the past. For example, "she had walked" describes an action that took place in the past and was also completed in the past.

The past perfects continuous tense refers to an action that was happening up until a particular point in the past but was completed.<ref name="auto1" /> It is different from the past perfect tense because the emphasis of past perfect continuous verbs is not on the action having been completed by the present moment, but rather on its having taken place actively over a time period before another moment in the past. The verb tense used in the sentence "She had been walking in the park regularly before I met her" is past perfect continuous because it describes an action ("walking") that was actively happening before a time when something else in the past was happening (when "I met her").

Depending on its usage in a sentence, "past" can be described using a variety of terms. [[Synonyms]] for "past" as an [[adjective]] include, "former," "bygone," "earlier," "preceding," and "previous." Synonyms for "past" as a [[noun]] include, "history, "background," "life story," and "biography." Synonyms of "past" as a [[preposition]] include, "in front of," "beyond," "by," and "in excess of."<ref>{{Cite web |title=past |url=https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/thesaurus/past |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180827210109/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/thesaurus/past |archive-date=27 August 2018 |access-date=27 August 2018 |website=oxforddictionaries.com |publisher=English Oxford Living Dictionaries |format=Web}}</ref>

== Other uses ==
{{Time sidebar}}

The word "past" can also be used to describe the offices of those who have previously served in an organization, group, or event such as, "past president," or, "past champions."<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |title=past |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/past |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180724153928/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/past |archive-date=24 July 2018 |access-date=27 August 2018 |website=Merriam-Webster.com |publisher=Merriam-Webster |format=Web}}</ref> "Past" can also refer to something or someone being at or in a position that is further than a particular point.<ref>{{Cite web |title=past |url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/past |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180827174135/https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/past |archive-date=27 August 2018 |access-date=27 August 2018 |website=dictionary.cambridge.org |publisher=Cambridge.org |format=Web}}</ref> For instance, in the sentence, "I live on Fielding Road, just past the train station," the word "past" is used to describe a location (the speaker's residence) beyond a certain point (the train station). Alternatively, the sentence, "He ran past us at full speed," utilizes the concept of the past to describe the position of someone ("He") that is further than the speaker.

The "past" is also used to define a time that is a certain number of [[minute]] before or after a particular [[hour]], as in "We left the party at half-past twelve."<ref name="half-past-12">{{Cite web |title=half-past 12 |url=https://eightpastfive.com/half-past-12/ |url-status=live |publisher=EightPastFive |format=Web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230831141249/https://eightpastfive.com/half-past-12/ |archive-date=Aug 31, 2023 }}</ref><ref name="auto" /> People also use "past" to refer to being beyond a particular [[biological age]] or phase of being, as in, "The boy was past the age of needing a babysitter," or, "I'm past caring about that problem."<ref name="auto" /> The "past" is commonly used to refer to history, either generally or with regards to specific time periods or events, as in, "Past monarchs had absolute power to determine the law in contrast to many European Kings and Queens of today."

Nineteenth-century British author [[Charles Dickens]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Collins |first=Philip |date=5 June 2018 |title=Charles Dickens |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Dickens-British-novelist |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618153157/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Dickens-British-novelist |archive-date=18 June 2018 |access-date=27 August 2018 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. |format=Web}}</ref> created one of the best-known fictional [[personifications]] of the "past" in his short book, "[[A Christmas Carol]]." In the story, the [[Ghost of Christmas Past]] is an apparition that shows the main character, a cold-hearted and tight-fisted man named [[Ebenezer Scrooge]], vignettes from his childhood and early adult life to teach him that joy does not necessarily come from wealth.<ref>{{Cite web |date=6 June 2014 |title=A Christmas Carol |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/A-Christmas-Carol-novel |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180827212341/https://www.britannica.com/topic/A-Christmas-Carol-novel |archive-date=27 August 2018 |access-date=27 August 2018 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. |format=Web}}</ref>

== Fields of study ==
The past is the object of study within such fields as [[time]], [[life]], [[history]], [[nostalgia]], [[archaeology]], [[archaeoastronomy]], [[chronology]], [[astronomy]], [[Time in physics|physics]], [[geology]], [[historical geology]], [[historical linguistics]], [[ontology]], [[paleontology]], [[paleobotany]], [[paleoethnobotany]], [[palaeogeography]], [[paleoclimatology]], [[etymology]] and [[physical cosmology]].

== See also ==
{{Portal|History}}
{{Commons category|Past}}
{{columnslist|colwidth=20em|
*[[Antiquarian]]
*[[Archaism]]
*[[Artifact (archaeology)|Artifact]]
*[[Cultural heritage]]
*[[Deep time]] 
*[[flashback (psychology)|Flashback]]
*[[Historic preservation]]
*[[Memory]]
*[[Museum]]
*[[Nostalgia]]
*[[Past tense]]
*[[Philosophy of space and time]]
*[[recall (memory)|Recollection]]
*[[Retro style]]
*''[[Thoughts of the Past]]''
}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Time topics}}
{{Sister bar|auto=yes|wikt=past}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Past| ]]
[[Category:Philosophy of time]]
[[Category:Time]]