The difference between Old and Past

When used as nouns, old means people who are old, whereas past means the period of time that has already happened, in contrast to the present and the future.

When used as adjectives, old means of an object, concept, relationship, etc., having existed for a relatively long period of time. of a living being, having lived for most of the expected years. of a perishable item, having existed for most, or more than its shelf life, whereas past means having already happened.

Past is also preposition with the meaning: beyond in place, quantity or time.

Past is also adverb with the meaning: in a direction that passes.

check bellow for the other definitions of Old and Past

  1. Old as an adjective:

    Of an object, concept, relationship, etc., having existed for a relatively long period of time. Of a living being, having lived for most of the expected years. Of a perishable item, having existed for most, or more than its shelf life.

    Examples:

    "an old abandoned building;  an old friend"

    "a wrinkled old man"

    "an old loaf of bread"

  2. Old as an adjective:

    Of an item that has been used and so is not new .

    Examples:

    "I find that an old toothbrush is good to clean the keyboard with."

  3. Old as an adjective:

    Having existed or lived for the specified time.

    Examples:

    "How old are they? She’s five years old and he's seven. We also have a young teen and a two-year-old child."

    "My great-grandfather lived to be a hundred and one years old."

  4. Old as an adjective:

    Of an earlier time. Former, previous. That is no longer in existence. Obsolete; out-of-date. Familiar.

    Examples:

    "My new car is not as good as my old one.  nowrap a school reunion for Old Etonians"

    "The footpath follows the route of an old railway line."

    "That is the old way of doing things; now we do it this way."

    "When he got drunk and quarrelsome they just gave him the old heave-ho."

  5. Old as an adjective:

    Tiresome.

    Examples:

    "Your constant pestering is getting old."

  6. Old as an adjective:

    Said of subdued colors, particularly reds, pinks and oranges, as if they had faded over time.

  7. Old as an adjective:

    A grammatical intensifier, often used in describing something positive. (Mostly in idioms like good old, big old and little old, any old and some old.)

    Examples:

    "We're having a good old time. nowrap My next car will be a big old SUV.  nowrap My wife makes the best little old apple pie in Texas."

  8. Old as an adjective (obsolete):

    Excessive, abundant.

  1. Old as a noun (with "the"):

    People who are old; old beings; the older generation, taken as a group.

    Examples:

    "A civilised society should always look after the old in the community."

  1. Past as a noun:

    The period of time that has already happened, in contrast to the present and the future.

    Examples:

    "a book about a time machine that can transport people back into the past"

  2. Past as a noun (grammar):

    The past tense.

  1. Past as an adjective:

    Having already happened; in the past; finished.

    Examples:

    "'past glories"

  2. Past as an adjective (postmodifier):

    Following expressions of time to indicate how long ago something happened; ago.

  3. Past as an adjective:

    Of a period of time: having just gone by; previous.

    Examples:

    "during the past year"

  4. Past as an adjective (grammar):

    Of a tense, expressing action that has already happened or a previously-existing state.

    Examples:

    "'past tense"

  1. Past as an adverb:

    in a direction that passes

    Examples:

    "synonyms by"

    "I watched him walk past"

  2. Past as an adverb:

    Passing by, especially without stopping or being delayed.

    Examples:

    "Ignore them, we'll play past them."

    "Please don't drive past the fruit stand, I want to stop there."

  1. Past as a preposition:

    Beyond in place, quantity or time.

    Examples:

    "the room past mine"

    "count past twenty"

    "past midnight"

  2. Past as a preposition:

    No longer capable of.

    Examples:

    "I'm past caring what he thinks of me."

  3. Past as a preposition:

    Having recovered or moved on from (a traumatic experience, etc.).

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