quick question - passed & past

[TeddTess]

which of these is correct

As we walked past the girl
As we walked passed the girl

past = time descriptor
pass (ed) = the verb, an action, "to pass"

so surely it would be passed in the above sentence, but i am sure this is wrong. or is my reasoning wrong?

Help!

Past is not only a time descriptor but an adverb. In your example "past" is correct.

Preposition in fact.

thanks

As we passed the girl
but
as we went past the girl

We passed the girl and as we went past she smiled.

'Past' can be used as a preposition 'first past the post', as a noun 'this only happened in the distant past' and as, (I think, but this Y6 grammar malarkey has sapped my confidence ) an adjective 'the past participle of a verb' (probably in other ways too, but those spring to mind)

'Passed' is the past participle () of the verb 'to pass' and can only be used as such. It's clear in your example that the verb is 'to walk' not 'to pass'.

( a time descriptor :is this one of these technical terms that's knocking my confidence? )

thanks so much