Collocations for "past"
Common phrases and expressions where native English speakers use the word "past" in context.
WordReference English Collocations © 2025
past
ⓘMost examples are given in US English. We have labeled exceptions as UK.n
- his [glorious, legendary, infamous, famous, sordid, interesting, dark] past
- in the [distant, recent] past
- the [nation's, star's, player's, family's] [glorious] past
- the [star's, athlete's] sordid past was revealed
- her past (finally) caught up with her
- [reminisce, talk, forget] about the past
- refused to [discuss, talk about] her past
- [try, attempt, fail] to learn from the past
- [delve, look] into the past
- the [problems, bad times, arguments] are all in the past
- [newspapers, books] are a thing of the past
- put the past behind him
- (but) that is all in the past now
- what happened in the past stays in the past
- the [verb, sentence, phrase] is in the past
- the future seen from the past
- [fashion, computers, cars] from the past
- the past, present, and future
- in the past, people [believed, thought, tended]
- during this past [year]
- over the past [few, six] years
- have made past [errors, mistakes]
- living off past glories
- past events have [contributed, shaped, led]
- past times
- a past [love, lover]
- in a past life
- the past [owner, president]
- is past his prime
- past [his best, the sell-by date]
- [she was, I'm] past caring
- [continue, go] past the [library, school]
- is past [due, 5:00]
- just past [lunchtime, midnight]
- [half, ten minutes] past [three]
- [drove, walked, went] past
- his [glorious, legendary, infamous, famous, sordid, interesting, dark] past
- during this past [year]
- in the [distant, recent] past
- over the past [few, six] years
- the [nation's, star's, player's, family's] [glorious] past
- have made past [errors, mistakes]
- the [star's, athlete's] sordid past was revealed
- living off past glories
- her past (finally) caught up with her
- past events have [contributed, shaped, led]
- [reminisce, talk, forget] about the past
- past times
- refused to [discuss, talk about] her past
- a past [love, lover]
- [try, attempt, fail] to learn from the past
- in a past life
- [delve, look] into the past
- the past [owner, president]
- the [problems, bad times, arguments] are all in the past
- the time for [apologies, recriminations, preparation] is past
- [newspapers, books] are a thing of the past
- is past his prime
- put the past behind him
- past [his best, the sell-by date]
- (but) that is all in the past now
- [she was, I'm] past caring
- what happened in the past stays in the past
- [drove, walked, went] past
- the [verb, sentence, phrase] is in the past
- [continue, go] past the [library, school]
- the future seen from the past
- past the point (of)
- [fashion, computers, cars] from the past
- is past [due, 5:00]
- the past, present, and future
- just past [lunchtime, midnight]
- in the past, people [believed, thought, tended]
- [half, ten minutes] past [three]
- UK: it's [half] past
'past' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
acknowledge
- aggregate
- ash
- ashamed
- association
- attachment
- awareness
- baggage
- battle
- behind
- benefit
- bidding
- blast
- bluff
- blur
- boss
- break
- breeze
- bucket
- burn
- buzz
- century
- charge
- churn
- cling
- commonly
- consistently
- constantly
- construction
- continuous
- couple
- creep
- crisis
- cruise
- curfew
- dark
- deadline
- decrease
- departure
- dig
- dim
- diminish
- distant
- dog
- double
- draw
- drift
- dwell
- eight
- erase