How to pronounce passed in American English

IPA /pæst/ Syllables 1 · past Stress 1st syllable

PAST

Start here

Americans pronounce passed as PAST (/pæst/). You'll hear it in sentences like "She passed her exam, didn't she?" or "The police parade passed the public park" — more examples below.

Now you try.

Record yourself saying "passed" and play it back. The mic stays on your device — nothing's uploaded.

Ready when you are

Tap the mic to start

Preview your accent profile

Get your accent profile and 5-axes assessment.

Sounds

75%

Clarity

68%

Stress

78%

Intonation

65%

Fluency

62%

Overall assessment

Our AI coach listens to your recording and grades 5 dimensions of pronunciation — then tells you exactly what to fix next.

72% Noticeable accent

Unlock the full report in the app

Sound by sound

Every sound in "passed".

1 syllable, 4 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.

p/p/

Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.

a/æ/

Drop the jaw noticeably. Keep the body of the tongue low and forward, and don't let the back of the tongue raise toward the soft palate. Pull the lip corners back slightly, almost a starting smile.

s/s/

Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.

t/t/

Touch the tip or front edge of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Keep your jaw relaxed. Stop the air, then release with a puff.

In real conversation

Hear "passed" in the wild.

Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.

"She passed her exam, didn't she?"

shee PAST her uhg·ZAM DIH·duhnt shee

"She passed the background check required for the job."

shee PAST dhuh BAK·grownd CHEHK ruh·KWAHY·erd fer dhuh JAHB

"She passed the ball to her teammate who was open."

shee PAST dhuh BAHL tuh her TEEM·mayt hoo wuhz OH·puhn

"She passed the certification test on her very first attempt."

shee PAST dhuh sur·tuh·fuh·KAY·shuhn TEHST ahn her VEH·ree FURST uh·TEHMPT

"She tracked the path of the comet as it passed by Earth."

shee TRAKT dhuh PATH uhv dhuh KAH·muht uhz iht PAST bahy URTH

"The holiday traditions in our family have been passed down for generations."

dhuh HAH·luh·day truh·DIH·shuhnz ihn owr FAM·lee huhv bihn PAST DOWN fer jeh·nuh·RAY·shuhnz

Find another

Looking for a different word or sentence?

Search the entire library

Press / anywhere to focus the search box.

Questions

Questions people ask about this.

Is the American pronunciation of "passed" different from British English?

American English uses different vowel shapes, a relaxed retroflex R, and connected-speech tricks like flap-T and glottal-stop T that British Received Pronunciation generally avoids. The respell "PAST" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.