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ago

ago

1.0
Comes after a time word to show how long since something happened
  • adjective
  • /əˈɡoʊ/
translation icon : hace
  • Well, not that long ago, probably two years ago.
  • years ago
  • decades ago
  • a few years ago

Once, years ago, my father served in a trial.

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Examples

  • A long time ago, I knew you did that.

  • We lost her six months ago.

  • And this was eight years ago or more.

  • Also, my mom died nine years ago this month.

  • This was not a field three years ago, right?

  • Once, years ago, my father served in a trial.

  • Four years ago, you were using your heart.

  • I met him six months ago and he seemed like the right kind of guy.

  • Eight years ago, Michael was convicted of burning down the record store where he worked.

  • We met ago seven years, and things didn't work out then.

Synonyms

agone
vsago
  • Archaic
9.9

Happening long ago

is the modern common form used after time expressions

Idioms

521 1.0

A long time in the past

long long ago
  • Literature
1 3.5

A time very far in the past often used to begin a story

From a very long time ago up to now

A way to say eighty-seven years ago, used by Abraham Lincoln at the start of the Gettysburg Address

Compounds

8 4.8

From a time very long ago

Surface Forms

ago positive

Etymology

Ago is easy to remember: think of it as a- + gone, meaning 'gone' or 'passed'. So when you say 'two hours ago' you mean that time has already 'gone' or 'passed'.