⏳ To pass (time) 🚶 To pass 📝 To use a name 📏 To follow rules

to go by

268 1.0

For time to pass

phrasal verb

: pasar

Time goes by and things change with relationships.
time goes by
days go by
years go by

Well, the years go by, I go to Moscow.

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Examples

Too much time has gone by.

Armageddon (1998)
The months and the years go by in a flash.

Alfie Deyes Vlogs
And then as time goes by, it's like it's dark.

Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum
Listen, life goes by and it goes by quick.
The last four months have gone by so quickly, so quick.
And days went by and days went by and, you know, a month went by,
So like a month went by, another month went by.

Danny Jones
When you get older, it goes by so fast, dude.

My Old Ass (2024)
We should rest and let the time go by, and then we'll be further along.

Fiction book (1991)
As the years go by, I cherish the memories we created together.

Synonyms

to pass

vsto go by

761 1.0

To spend time doing something

is neutral and does not imply active spending or use of time

to slip away

vsto go by

32 3.0

For time to pass without anyone noticing

is more general and does not emphasise gradual unnoticed fading

to fly by

vsto go by

23 3.3

To seem to pass very quickly, especially time

is neutral and does not suggest such a very quick experience

to elapse

vsto go by

19 5.1

Time passes without being noticed

is a more general term and does not stress regular unnoticed movement

to slip by

vsto go by

11 3.8

To go past quickly without anyone noticing, as with time or chances

is the neutral term and does not stress speed or missed chances

to zip by

vsto go by

Informal

3 3.6

To pass very quickly, as when a car goes by or time moves fast

is about time movement rather than rapid physical movement of objects

to slide by

vsto go by

2 4.2

Time passes smoothly without you noticing

is broader and does not specifically emphasize smooth, unnoticed movement

to lapse

vsto go by

1 4.0

To pass, as time between events

is the neutral term and does not stress fading or quiet ending

to glide by

vsto go by

1 3.9

Time that passes quickly without you noticing

is the general expression and does not highlight smoothness or quickness

elapsed

vsto go by

2.9

Time that has passed since something started

is the general verb phrase rather than a form that marks completion

Antonyms

to freeze

Formal

154 5.3

Officially stop an activity, for example the use of money or assets

to stand still

75 1.0

Stay upright in one place without moving

How Fast

to fly by

16 2.2

to flash

Literature

102 3.0

to go by

268 1.0

to pass

∞ 1.0

to drag

133 3.4

Surface Forms

go by infinitive

going by present participle

goes by third person singular

went by past

gone by past participle

Morphology

go + by

The meaning 'to pass or elapse' is directly derivable from combining 'go' (to move/advance) with 'by' (indicating movement past something): time is conceptualized as moving past, so the composite meaning is a straightforward motion metaphor. This mapping is cross-linguistically common and follows normal English particle/preposition patterns, so a B1 learner who knows the parts would very likely infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Go by for time may come from the image of days flowing past like a river or a clock hand moving by your view. That picture shows time moving on, so the phrase means 'to pass' or elapse.