Passed or past?

Can someone clarify the exact meanings of these two words, and when to use them?

If I say, 'the passed hour has been tough', should it be 'past' or 'passed'.

I could easily look this up, but I thought I may as well post it here so we can all learn from it.

If you are referring to time or distance, use “past”: “the team performed well in the past,” “the police car drove past the suspect’s house.” If you are referring to the action of passing, however, you need to use “passed“: “when John passed the gravy, he spilled it on his lap,” “the teacher was astonished that none of the students had passed the test.”

^^Hope that helps. :)

That is correct, for "The __ hour has been tough" it would be Past, not Passed.

Yeah, it would be like...

"My dear, I'm utterly depressed that you were in love with Horatio."
"But darling, that's all in the PAST!" (Time!)

Whereas:

"Martina PASSED Horatio in the street." (Action!)

The real drama enters with this, though:

"Horatio saw Martina walk PAST." (Another action!)

Bum bum BUUUM..... tune in next time.

Cool! Good job Mojo Jojo.

lol. there are enought passed to throw a stick at. gee.

David

lol... "Now that this post has passed," it should be Past, not passed

Remember when it deals with time it is past.

Though you have your answer, had to throw in my comment. Itallion Stallion is correct regarding the time and action definitions.
The past hour has been tough (as the previous/latest time has been tough).
The hour passed has been tough (as the previous hour now gone(or passed) has been tough).

lol abby... i think you might be a genius.

yeah, i think either of those would have worked there, depending on what you wanted to say. has passed... is past... p...paa...

*brain shuts down*