Meaning & use
passage
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Meanings
nouncountable
A short part taken from a book, speech or piece of music.
Grammar: Often followed by from or in: a passage from the novel.
Patterns
- a passage from something
- a passage in something
Read the passage aloud and answer the questions.
The violin plays a difficult passage in the second movement.
He underlined a passage in the report.
nouncountable
A narrow way, such as a corridor, that leads from one place to another.
Grammar: Often a physical route: a narrow passage.
Patterns
- a passage between things
- a passage to somewhere
A dark passage led to the cellar.
The children found a secret passage behind the bookshelf.
Blocked nasal passages make it hard to breathe.
noununcountable
The movement or process of going by, through or across.
Grammar: Takes of: the passage of time.
Patterns
- the passage of time
- the passage of something
The passage of time softened her grief.
Snow blocked the passage of vehicles.
They were granted safe passage through the area.
nouncountable
A journey, especially by ship, or the right to travel.
Grammar: Often used with book or pay: book passage on a ship.
Patterns
- book passage
- pay for passage
She booked passage on a steamer to Lisbon.
The voyage was a rough passage.
He worked on the boat to pay for his passage.
noununcountablelegal
The official approval of a law or a bill.
Grammar: Used with of: the passage of the bill.
Patterns
- the passage of a law
The passage of the bill took months.
Voters supported the passage of the new tax.
Word forms
| plural | passages |
|---|
Common combinations
- read a passage
- The teacher asked us to read a passage.
- secret passage
- The story hides a secret passage in the castle.
- passage of time
- With the passage of time, the pain eased.
- safe passage
- Aid workers requested safe passage.
- passage of a bill
- The passage of the bill surprised everyone.
- rite of passage
- Getting a driver's license is a rite of passage.
Synonyms and how they differ
- excerpt
- Excerpt means a piece taken out of a larger work, while passage may simply be a section within it.
- corridor
- Corridor is a hallway inside a building, whereas passage can also be outdoors or very narrow.
- extract
- Extract suggests material deliberately taken out for use elsewhere, unlike passage which is just part of a text.
- voyage
- Voyage is the whole sea journey, while passage can mean the trip or the ticket to it.
Opposites
Word family
- pass verb
- to go by or move past
- passageway noun
- a narrow way between places
- passenger noun
- a person traveling in a vehicle
- passing noun
- the act of going by
Commonly confused: passage or passage vs message? passage or passenger?
passage vs passage vs message
A passage is part of a text. A message is what the whole text is trying to say.
passage vs passenger
Passenger is a person traveling and passage is the journey or way, though both come from pass.
Practice
The teacher asked us to read a short ___ from the novel and explain what it meant.
Choose one answer.
A passage is a short section of text. The other words look similar but do not mean part of a book.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “passage”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.