pass by — miss an opportunity

phrasal verbC1IELTS 7+neutraloccasional

To fail to take advantage of an opportunity or allow it to go unnoticed or unused.

Say it like a native

Textbook One should not permit such an opportunity to elapse unutilised.

Native Don't let this chance pass you by.

'Let it pass you by' is the natural idiom; 'permit it to elapse unutilised' is dense and lifeless.

Pattern: let/allow sth to pass by; let/allow an opportunity/chance to pass by

Don't let this chance pass by—you might not get another one.opportunity
Many people regret letting valuable opportunities pass by due to fear or indecision.IELTS speaking

✗ Don't let the chance pass by you.

✓ Don't let the chance pass you by.

Word order — 'pass you by', not 'pass by you'.

let something pass you by — let it pass you by, life passing by, let the chance pass, pass me by

Unlike the B1 sense, which is about physically moving past something, this sense is figurative and refers to not taking advantage of an opportunity.

pass by (to go past someone or something) — 'pass by' also has the more basic meaning 'to go past someone or something'; this is the advanced sense.