Pasaron

Pasaron is the third-person plural preterite form of the Spanish verb pasar. It corresponds to “they passed” or “you (plural) passed” in English, but in usage it most often indicates actions or events that occurred in the past, or that time elapsed. The infinitive pasar covers many senses, including moving past, crossing a space, or letting time go by.

Usage notes: In the preterite, pasaron describes completed past actions or events. Examples include elapsed time, as in “Pasaron dos horas” (Two hours passed), or movement through a space, such as “Los coches pasaron por la avenida” (The cars passed along the avenue). It can also express that something happened or occurred, as in “Pasaron cosas extrañas” (Strange things happened). When referring to passing a test or exam, Spanish commonly uses aprobar rather than pasar, though in some colloquial contexts pasar a veces appears.

Grammatical remarks: Pasaron is a regular form for -ar verbs in the preterite, with the full set: pasé, pasaste, pasó, pasamos, pasasteis, pasaron. It contrasts with the imperfect form pasaban, which describes ongoing or repeated past actions, and with other tenses that place events in closer or more distant past. Etymology traces pasar to Latin passāre, from passus, linked to the sense of going by, crossing, or elapsed time.

See also: other conjugations of pasar, related phrases for elapsed time (el tiempo pasó), and uses of pasar in various senses such as crossing, moving by, or transferring.