ago

CEFRA1

/əˈɡoʊ/

adverb · postp

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adverb

    Before now, measured from the present time.

  2. 02

    adverb

    Extra detail

    Gone; gone by; gone away; passed; passed away.

Examples

  • Didn't you know that he passed away two years ago?

  • It happened a long time ago.

At a glance

Sits at A1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
4
Parts of speech
2
Citations
1

Deep Dive

adverb

Extra meaning

  1. Nearly gone; dead. (used in Devonshire at the turn of the 19th century)

postp

Extra meaning

  1. Before now, before the present time

More examples

In context

  • She was hired three years ago.

  • It was two weeks ago that I saw her last.

  • When they first met in 2000, my dad told my mom how he had gotten the money. The story begins 20 years ago.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

We met a long time blank, over twenty years ago, in college.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adverb

From Middle English ago, agon (“passed”), past participle of agon (“to depart, escape, pass”), from Old English āgān (“to go away, pass away, go forth, come to pass”), from Proto-Germanic *uz- (“out”), *gāną (“to go”), equivalent to a- + gone, and by surface analysis, a- + go. Cognate with German ergehen (“to come to pass, fare, go forth”). Compare also Old Saxon āgangan (“to go or pass by”), Gothic 𐌿𐍃𐌲𐌰𐌲𐌲𐌰𐌽 (usgaggan, “to go forth”).