How to pronounce “past”
Say “past” in one beat
past
/pæst/
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /past/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- pastpæst
- IPA (American)
- /pæst/
- IPA (British)
- /past/
- Respelling
- PAST
- Syllables
- 1 — past
- Stress
- One syllable, so the whole word carries the beat — say /pæst/ in one unbroken piece rather than clipping the vowel.
- Part of speech
- noun, adjective, adverb
- Difficulty
- Beginner — most learners get this on the first take
American and British are not the same here
/pæst/
/past/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
What “past” means
- noun
the time that has elapsed
“forget the past”
- noun
a earlier period in someone's life (especially one that they have reason to keep secret)
“reporters dug into the candidate's past”
- noun
a verb tense that expresses actions or states in the past
Say it in a sentence
“She rarely talks about her past before moving to the city.”“past”, answered
How do you pronounce “past”?
“past” is pronounced /pæst/ (PAST) in American English and /past/ in British English — one syllable. It is one unbroken piece — /pæst/ — with no pause anywhere inside it.
How many syllables does “past” have?
One, despite the 1 vowel letters in the spelling. The whole word is /pæst/ — a single beat.
Is “past” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /pæst/ (PAST); British English says /past/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “past” mean?
As a noun: the time that has elapsed For example: “forget the past” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “past”?
One syllable, so the whole word carries the beat — say /pæst/ in one unbroken piece rather than clipping the vowel.
Now say “past” and see every sound
Record it once and sayit lines your audio up against the target sound by sound — what landed, what slipped, and what it sounded like instead.