Meaning & use
passing notes
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Meanings
phrase
The act of secretly sending written messages to someone, especially in class when you should be paying attention.
Grammar: Used as a verb phrase in the -ing form; it often follows 'be' or a verb like 'catch'.
Patterns
- be passing notes
- be caught passing notes
- passing notes in class
The teacher saw Mia passing notes to her friend during the history lesson.
They spent the whole math class passing notes instead of doing the exercises.
He was caught passing notes and had to stay after school.
phrase
The activity of sending short written messages back and forth, often in a meeting or other quiet setting.
Grammar: Describes a repeated or ongoing activity; it is not used as a countable noun.
Patterns
- keep passing notes
- start passing notes
Instead of listening to the presentation, two colleagues were passing notes at the back of the room.
The children kept passing notes under the table until their mother noticed.
Common combinations
- passing notes in class
- Passing notes in class can get you in trouble.
- caught passing notes
- She was caught passing notes twice last week.
- passing notes to someone
- He was passing notes to his friend across the aisle.
- stop passing notes
- The teacher told them to stop passing notes and open their books.
Synonyms and how they differ
- passing messages
- Similar, but 'messages' is more general and can include spoken or electronic messages, while 'notes' usually means short written ones on paper.
- whispering
- Also a secret way to communicate in class, but it is spoken, not written.
Word family
- pass notes phrase
- The base form of the same phrase, used for habits or general statements.
- note noun
- A short written message.
Commonly confused: passing notes or passing notes?
passing notes vs passing notes
Do not confuse with 'passing grades', which means grades that are good enough to succeed.
Practice
The students were _____ notes during the lecture, so they missed the main point.
Choose one answer.
After the verb 'were', we need the -ing form to show an action in progress: 'were passing notes'. 'Passed' is the past tense and would need a different structure, 'pass' is the base form and does not fit after 'were' here, and 'to pass' would change the meaning to purpose.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “passing notes”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.