It was on his way back past them

[ecoul]

Hi,

What does "past' mean here? Is it an adjective?


"It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying".

Harry Potter

Thanks

 

[Rover_KE]

Welcome to the forum, ecoul.:-D

It's a preposition in this context.

It means he walked by them – close enough to hear what they were saying.

 

[emsr2d2]

This might help.

 

[ecoul]

Welcome to the forum, ecoul.:-D

It's a preposition in this context.

It means he walked by them – close enough to hear what they were saying.

Hi again, a preposition seems to me unlogical here. Do you mean : It was on his way back which he walked by them?

 

[jutfrank]

a preposition seems to me unlogical here.

On the contrary—a preposition is logically necessary here. The meaning is the spatial relation between him and them. Logically, you could replace the preposition past with other prepositions, like towards or to (for different meanings, of course).

 

[Tdol]

What does "past' mean here? Is it an adjective?

It is not an adjective- it is is an adjective in sentences like this:

My past experience leads me to believe that this will not go well.