Meaning & use
past dues
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“past dues” is a form of “past due”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meaning
nounpluralbusinessfinance
Payments or amounts of money that should have been paid earlier and are still owed.
Grammar: Used as a plural noun; it usually follows words like 'pay' or 'collect'. The singular 'past due' is an adjective, not a noun.
Patterns
- pay past dues
- collect past dues
- past dues on something
The company sent a letter asking him to pay his past dues.
She checked her account and saw that her past dues had been cleared.
The club will not accept new members until their past dues are paid.
Common combinations
- pay past dues
- He finally paid his past dues after receiving a warning.
- collect past dues
- The agency hired a team to collect past dues from customers.
- past dues on a loan
- The bank reported past dues on the loan to the credit bureau.
Synonyms and how they differ
- arrears
- More formal and often used in legal or financial contexts; 'past dues' sounds slightly more informal.
- overdue payments
- A clearer everyday phrase that means the same thing but is not a fixed noun.
Word family
- past due adjective
- Describes a payment that is late, e.g., 'a past due bill'.
Commonly confused: past dues or past due?
past dues vs past due
As an adjective, it describes a single late payment; 'past dues' is the plural noun for the amounts owed.
Practice
The landlord reminded the tenant that her ______ needed to be paid before the end of the month.
Choose one answer.
The sentence needs a plural noun as the subject of 'needed'; 'past dues' fits. 'Past due' is an adjective and cannot stand alone here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “past dues”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.