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| موضوع: Using Ago & Before الجمعة يوليو 19, 2013 2:55 pm | |
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Do you know how to use ago and before? A lot of my students told me that they have trouble with this kind of English grammar so today I am going to show you how to use these words.
Ago relates to the present time. Ago indicates a time in the past based on now, and generally it is a specific time. Ago tells us how long prior to now:
I started teaching English nineteen years ago. Jack got to the office ten minutes ago. Twenty years ago, cell phones didn’t have a display screen. We also use phrases like many years ago, a couple of weeks ago, a few hours ago, etc. to describe a non-specific point in time based on now:
Bob started working here many years ago. We got a new car a couple of weeks ago. A few hours ago, the boss made the announcement.
Before also relates to the present time, but a non-specific point prior to the present time. We generally use the present perfect and sometimes the simple past with before:
Rome? Sounds nice, but I’ve never been there before. I’ve seen that movie before. It’s really good. By the way, I saw Jim before. He was in a good mood.
Before also relates to a point in time, either the past or the future, but that point in time is not now. One point in time is mentioned first, then before is used based on the point in time mentioned first.
Maya came to NYC in 2010. Before that, she lived in Paris for a year. This means that she lived in Paris in 2009. I met Jane before I started working at IBM. If you want to start university in September, you need to take the TOEFL exam at least nine months before that. It’s July now, and the party is in September. You should confirm everything at least 3 weeks before. |
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| موضوع: رد: Using Ago & Before الأربعاء أكتوبر 30, 2013 8:44 am | |
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