pass by
/pɑːs baɪ/
Meaning
To go past a person, place, or thing on your way somewhere, or to describe time passing. At the A2 level, it is a fundamental phrasal verb used to describe physical movement or the simple flow of time.
Examples
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I pass by the bakery every morning on my way to the train station.
I pass by the bakery every morning on my way to the train station.
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A police car just passed by our house with its sirens on.
A police car just passed by our house with its sirens on.
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As the years pass by, we realize how quickly life goes.
As the years pass by, we realize how quickly life goes.
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She waved to me as she passed by in her car.
She waved to me as she passed by in her car.
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Excuse me, could you let me pass by? I need to get to the exit.
Excuse me, could you let me pass by? I need to get to the exit.
Common Mistakes
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✗ I passed by of the grocery store on my way home.
✓ I passed by the grocery store on my way home.
'Pass by' acts transitively here and does not require the preposition 'of'. You simply pass by [something].
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✗ Time is passing by very fastly.
✓ Time is passing by very fast.
'Fast' is both an adjective and an adverb; 'fastly' is not a word in standard English.
Related Expressions
Practice
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I always ___ the park when I walk my dog.
💡 Go past a physical location
Show answer
pass by
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We watched the boats ___ as we sat on the riverbank.
💡 Move past us
Show answer
pass by