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I have come across a sentence in a financial media website Investopedia, which reads, "Time-barred debt is typically debt that has past the statute of limitations and cannot be collected."

My question is if the sentence is grammatically correct. I assume, in the phrase "has past", past is used as a verb. Can past be used as a verb, even in informal context?

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  • It's a misspelling. Should be passed. They're pronounced the same, so it might be a transcription error
    – John Lawler
    May 30 at 15:22
  • Yes, it is certainly grammatically correct; just speak it aloud and you'll realize this. However, as John has pointed out, it has a spelling mistake. Spelling mistakes are not grammatical errors, just errors in writing. Grammatical errors are heard not seen.
    – tchrist ♦
    May 30 at 15:27
  • By collective agreement of writers of present-day English, whenever the word /pæst/ represents a noun, adjective, adverb, or preposition, we always spell it past. In contrast but also by collective agreement, when the word /pæst/ represents the past tense or the past participle of the verb /pæs/, we always spell it passed. Certainly both ultimately derive from the selfsame verb /pæs/, and indeed centuries ago these two words were not always clearly distinguished in writing as nowadays.
    – tchrist ♦
    May 30 at 15:27
  • Thanks @tchrist
    – Stannis John
    May 31 at 4:08

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