French Conversation · Level 17
90 words
French word
passé
Pronunciation
IPA/pase/
Meaning
- masculine nounpast
Example
On ne peut pas changer le passé.
The past cannot be changed.
More examples
Le passé influence parfois nos choix.
The past sometimes influences our choices.
Core concept
A stretch of time behind the present, containing events that are already complete.
Common phrases
par le passé
in the past
dans le passé
in the past
Similar words
souvenir: A remembered event from the past or a fragment of such a memory.
mémoire: What an individual or society preserves from the past, including its records.
histoire: The linked events of a person's or society's past and the story they form.
temps: The idea of time used to measure events and their duration.
Definition in French
Le passé désigne le temps écoulé et les événements achevés qui sont antérieurs au moment présent.
Word origin
Passé is the noun use of the past participle of passer, a verb inherited from Old French passer and ultimately from Late Latin passare.
Usage tips
- The noun is masculine: le passé, especially in the common phrase dans le passé.