Why Pasar Is Everywhere in Natural Spanish
Pasar literally means to pass or to happen — but native speakers use it to ask what's going on, express indifference, describe spending time, and talk about going through difficult experiences. It's one of the most versatile verbs in everyday Spanish and one of the most underestimated.
Pattern 1: ¿Qué pasa? — "What's up?" / "What's happening?"
The most essential pasar chunk — and one of the first expressions any learner should internalize. Used as a greeting, a check-in, or a reaction to something unexpected. Tone determines whether it's casual (what's up?) or concerned (what's wrong?).
- ¿Qué pasa? — What's up? / What's going on?
- ¿Qué te pasa? — What's wrong with you? / What's the matter?
- ¿Qué pasó? — What happened?
Chunk to learn:
¿Qué pasa? / ¿Qué te pasa? / ¿Qué pasó?
Pattern 2: Pasar de — "To not care about" / "To pass on"
A colloquial chunk expressing indifference or deliberate disengagement. Pasar de algo means you're not interested, not bothered, or actively choosing to ignore something. Common in informal speech, especially among younger speakers in Spain.
- Paso de eso. — I don't care about that / I'm not interested.
- Pasa completamente de lo que le dices. — He completely ignores what you tell him.
- ¿Vienes? —Paso. — "Are you coming?" "I'll pass / I'm not bothered."
Chunk to learn:
Pasar de + [noun / infinitive] — to not care / pass on / ignore
Pattern 3: Pasarlo bien / Pasarlo mal — Having a good or bad time
The natural way to talk about having a good or bad time in Spanish. The direct object lo refers to the time or experience — to pass it well. Used for events, trips, parties, and everyday experiences.
- Lo pasamos genial en la boda. — We had a great time at the wedding.
- ¿Lo pasaste bien? — Did you have a good time?
- Lo pasé fatal en esa reunión. — I had an awful time in that meeting.
Chunk to learn:
Pasarlo + [bien / mal / genial / fatal] — to have a good/bad time
Pattern 4: Pasar tiempo + gerund — Spending time doing something
Pasar tiempo is the natural frame for talking about how you spend your time. Followed by a gerund, it expresses what activity you're investing that time in.
- Paso mucho tiempo leyendo. — I spend a lot of time reading.
- ¿Cómo pasas el tiempo libre? — How do you spend your free time?
- Pasamos la tarde viendo series. — We spent the afternoon watching series.
Chunk to learn:
Pasar + [time] + [gerund] — to spend time doing something
Pattern 5: Pasar por — Going through / passing by
Both literal and figurative. Pasar por covers physically passing by a place and figuratively going through an experience or phase — one of the most productive preposition combinations with this verb.
- Paso por tu casa de camino al trabajo. — I pass by your place on the way to work.
- Está pasando por un momento muy difícil. — She's going through a very difficult time.
- Esto no va a pasar por alto. — This is not going to be overlooked.
Chunk to learn:
Pasar por + [place / experience] — to pass by / go through
Pattern 6: Lo que pasa es que… — Introducing an explanation
Already introduced in the [Lo que] Chunks post, but worth revisiting here as one of pasar's most frequent fixed expressions. It introduces an explanation or excuse — the thing is… — and is one of the most common discourse chunks in spoken Spanish.
- Lo que pasa es que no tengo tiempo. — The thing is, I don't have time.
- Lo que pasa es que me olvidé. — What happened is I forgot.
- Lo que pasa es que es complicado. — The thing is, it's complicated.
Chunk to learn:
Lo que pasa es que + [explanation] — the thing is…
Happening, Passing, Spending, Going Through
Pasar captures movement through time and space — and that movement metaphor underlies all its uses. Time passes, you pass by places, you go through experiences, things happen. Once you internalize these chunk patterns, you'll find pasar in almost every conversation.
Start with ¿qué pasa? and pasarlo bien — two chunks that cover greeting someone and talking about experiences, the backbone of everyday conversation.
This post is part of the Spanish Chunk Series — a growing collection of chunk patterns for natural Spanish.