Looking up...
ago
/əˈɡoʊ/
a period of time before the present
I saw her five minutes ago.
This means the speaker saw her five minutes before the current moment.
general
a period of time before the present
The meeting started ten minutes ago.
The meeting began ten minutes before the current time.
She left an hour ago.
She departed one hour before now.
Always used with a time expression (e.g., minutes, hours, days, years).
Collocations
a long time agoa very long time before the presentjust agovery recentlyagoused with a time expression to indicate past time
Synonyms
Antonyms
Pro Tip
Time Expressions
'Ago' is always used with a time expression (e.g., minutes, hours, days, years).
Position in Sentence
'Ago' comes after the time expression (e.g., 'five minutes ago', not 'ago five minutes').
Gold Rule
Correct Usage
'Ago' is always used with a time expression and refers to a specific time in the past.
Word Origin
From Middle English 'agoon', from Old English 'on' (on) + 'gean' (yesterday).
Usage Notes
Always used with a time expression. Not used with 'before' (e.g., 'ago before' is incorrect).
English Dictionary