ago

ago
a|go
W1S1 [əˈgəu US əˈgou] adv
[Date: 1400-1500; Origin: From the past participle of ago 'to pass away' (11-17 centuries), from Old English agan, from gan 'to go']
used to show how far back in the past something happened
5 minutes/an hour/20 years etc ago
▪ Her husband died 14 years ago.
long ago/a long time ago
▪ He should have finished at university long ago, but he kept taking extra courses.
a minute/moment ago
▪ The little girl you saw a moment ago was my niece.
a little/short while ago
▪ Tom got a letter from him just a little while ago.
▪ They moved to a new house some time ago (=a fairly long time ago) .
▪ We had our bicentenary celebrations not that long ago.
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WORD CHOICE: ago, before, previously
Use ago to say how much time has passed from the time something happened to now, the time of speaking : I saw her a few minutes ago. |We went to Madrid two years ago.
Use before to say how much time passed from the time something happened to a time in the past : We went back to the same hotel where we had stayed two years before.
Previously is used in the same way, but is more formal : The meeting was a follow-up to one that had been held four days previously.
GRAMMAR
!! Do not use a preposition ('at', 'in', 'on' etc) before a phrase with ago : They first met fifteen years ago (NOT at/in fifteen years ago).
!! Do not use 'since' or 'before' with ago : I came to the USA two months ago (NOT since/before two months ago).
!! Use the past tense, not the present perfect, with ago : I started (NOT I've started) a new job a few weeks ago.
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Dictionary of contemporary English. 2013.

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  • ago — ago; ago·ge; ago·ho; ago·ni·a·da; ago·ni·a·ti·tes; ago·jo; …   English syllables

  • Ago — Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. {{{image}}}   Sigles d une seule lettre   Sigles de deux lettres > Sigles de trois lettres …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Ago — A*go , a. & adv. [OE. ago, agon, p. p. of agon to go away, pass by, AS. [=a]g[=a]n to pass away; [=a] (cf. Goth. us , Ger. er , orig. meaning out) + g[=a]n to go. See {Go}.] Past; gone by; since; as, ten years ago; gone long ago. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • ago — ago, since Ago is followed by that, not since, in constructions of the type It is 10 years ago that [not since] he died. Since is used without ago: e.g. It is 10 years since he died …   Modern English usage

  • AGO — is a three letter abbreviation with multiple meanings, as described below: *AGO Flugzeugwerke, aircraft manufacturer *Alpha Gamma Omega fraternity *American Guild of Organists *Angola, from its ISO country code *Art Gallery of Ontario *Auditor… …   Wikipedia

  • ago — [ə gō′] adj. [ME agon, pp. of agon, to depart < OE agan, to pass away < a , away + gan: see GO1] gone by; past; before now: used following the noun [years ago] adv. in the past [long ago] …   English World dictionary

  • ago — s.m. [lat. acus us ] (pl. aghi, ant. le àgora ). 1. [asticciola di acciaio usata per cucire] ● Espressioni: ago torto ▶◀ (region.) aghetto, uncinetto. 2. (estens.) a. [asticciola indicatrice di vari strumenti] ▶◀ indicatore, indice, lancetta …   Enciclopedia Italiana

  • ago — (adj.) early 14c., shortened form of O.E. agan, agone departed, passed away, pp. of an obsolete verb ago to go forth, formed from a away (perhaps here used as an intensive prefix) + gan go (see GO (Cf. go)). Agone remains a dialectal variant …   Etymology dictionary

  • ago — ágo m <V ȃgo!> DEFINICIJA hip. od aga ETIMOLOGIJA vidi aga …   Hrvatski jezični portal

  • ago — [adv] in the past ages ago, back, back when, before, from way back, from year one*, gone, since, since God knows when*, time was; concept 820 …   New thesaurus

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