already

CEFRA1

/ɔːlˈɹɛdi/

adverb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adverb

    Before now or before the expected time.

  2. 02

    adverb

    Extra detail

    An intensifier used to emphasize impatience or express exasperation.

Examples

  • The children are already learning to multiply and divide.

  • I still haven't seen that movie. I hope you haven't already seen it either.

At a glance

Sits at A1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
1

Deep Dive

adverb

Extra meanings

  1. So soon.

  2. Prior to some specified time, either past, present, or future; by this time; previously.

  3. Indicates the completion of an action (whether past or hypothetical), or more generally, perfective aspect.

More examples

In context

  • I was surprised that she hadn’t already told me the news.

  • Much of what he said I knew already.

  • He's already a man.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

We don't need to buy more milk because we blank have two cartons at home.

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

Nearby

Origin

adverb

From Middle English alredy (“fully; already”), equivalent to al- (“all, completely”) + ready. Cognate with West Frisian alreeds (“already”), Dutch alreeds (“already”), Afrikaans alreeds (“already”), Middle Low German alreide, alreids ("already"; whence modern German Low German alreeds (“already”)), Danish allerede (“already”), Swedish allaredan (“already”), Norwegian Nynorsk allereie (“already”). More at all, ready. The use as an intensifier in American English is a semantic loan from Yiddish שוין (shoyn), attested from 1903. In Singapore English, the use of already as a marker of action completion and change of state is analogous to Hokkien 了 (liáu), Teochew 了 (liao²) and Mandarin 了 (le)....