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Glite Dictionary
⏰ At this moment 👋 To get attention 📖 Narrating past events 🕒 The present moment
now

now

∞ 6.5
Used in stories to tell past events as if happening now
  • adverb
  • /naʊ/
  • Literature
translation icon : ahora
  • The historians describe the events of the past as they now understand them.

Examples

  • But I also read House of Morgan, Titan, and now I'm reading Washington.

    Academic text (2011)

  • Alright, we're now passing through the base of the brain.

    Rampage (1987)

  • This led to a period that we now call the Dark Ages.

  • So then he gets COVID and now the story changes, right?

  • Whereas before this was not possible, now it's there.

  • One kid, though, continued to steal and is now serving four years in prison.

    Academic text (2011)

  • I now know what she's doing.

    Jack Be Nimble (2022)

  • At home, they once spoke only Yiddish, though now, our mother assured us, they spoke English.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • And we screened her, treated her, and now she's just so much better.

  • With the selection of these projects, the AIA now supports preservation and outreach initiatives on five continents.

    Academic text (2011)

Synonyms

historical present
vsnow
  • Specialized
7.4

Use present tense to tell past events as if they are happening now

is used to narrate a series of past events in historical or literary recounting

Antonyms

then
1 1.0

The time being talked about

Idioms

until now
300 1.0

Up to the present time

now and then
  • Informal
285 1.0

Happens sometimes but not very often

just now
278 1.0

A very short time ago

every now and then
137 2.0

Sometimes, not very often

now and again
  • Informal
54 2.3

Happens sometimes but not very often

now now
  • Informal
51 9.2

Gently show disapproval and tell someone to calm down

up to now
30 1.6

Before now, until the present moment

any time now
12 1.6

Likely to happen at any moment

speak now or forever hold your peace
  • Formal
2 8.5

Ask anyone who objects to speak now or be silent forever

now or never
  • Informal
3.9

Act immediately because there may not be another chance

now you're cooking
  • Informal
9.3

Shows approval when someone makes good progress

ta ta for now
  • UK
9.5

A friendly informal way to say goodbye when you will see or speak to someone soon

Compounds

here and now
70 3.5

The time and place you are in now

now-nowism
  • Neologism
9.9

A habit of making quick decisions and ignoring future problems

Surface Forms

now positive

Etymology

Now is often used in stories to make past events feel present because its basic meaning is 'at this time'. Writers use now in the historical present to make a scene seem immediate, so the reader feels as if the action is happening right before them.