Passed

Question

What is the difference between  'passed on' and 'passed by'  please let me know when to use what.for eg.Four months have passed by/on since I lost my puppy.

Skif · Accepted Answer

pass by means to go past or near smth. on your way to another place

A black limousine passed by when she looked out the window

The example is taken from the http://www.thefreedictionary.com/pass+by

or to overlook or disregard something

to pass by difficult problems

And it shuld be noted that pass by is usually means the same as pass

So that you should write

Four months have passed (by) since...

Five years passed (by) ...

If you pass something on to someone, you give it to them so that they have it instead of you.

If you pass on costs or savings to someone else, you make them pay for your costs or allow them to benefit from your savings.

pass on is usually means continue or proceed...

He passed on to the urgent problem

Synonym · Answer

Thanks Mr. Skif,

So does that mean when we are talking about time only 'passed by' should be used and not 'passed on'?

Skif · Answer

It is very interesting question as 'talking about time' can be interpreted in different ways.

It can be said that someone passed on to mean that they died:

He passed on in 1978

So that pass on can be used when we are talking about time...

But as for your first post(to tell how much time passed by) we can say that only pass by should be used in that context...

Passed

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