PASTused to show how far back in the past something happened 以前
5 minutes/an hour/20 years etc ago
Her husband died 14 years ago.
她的丈夫14年前去世了。
long ago/a long time ago
He should have finished at university long ago, but he kept taking extra courses.
他大学早就该毕业了,但是他不停地选修额外课程。
a minute/moment ago
The little girl you saw a moment ago was my niece.
你刚才看到的那个小女孩是我侄女。
a little/short while ago
Tom got a letter from him just a little while ago.
汤姆刚在不久之前收到他的一封来信。
They moved to a new house some time ago (=a fairly long time ago).
他们搬进新居已有些日子了。
We had our bicentenary celebrations not that long ago.
不久前,我们举行了200周年庆典活动。
5GRAMMAR 语法:ago, before, previously
Use ago to say how much time has passed from the time something happened to the present time 用ago表示从事情发生到现在时间过去了多久
We went to Madrid two years ago.
我们两年前去了马德里。
Use before to say how much time passed from the time something happened to a time in the past 用before表示从事情发生到过去某个时间是多久
Her husband had died many years before.
那时她丈夫已去世多年。
Previously is used in the same way, but is more formalpreviously的用法相同,但更加正式
The meeting was a follow-up to one that had been held four days previously.
这次会议是四天前那次会议的后续。
Use the past tense, not the present perfect, with agoago和过去时连用,不和现在完成时连用
I started (NOT 不说 I've started) a new job a few weeks ago.
几星期前我开始了新工作。
Do not use a preposition ('at', 'in', 'on' etc) before a phrase with ago 带ago的短语之前不用at,in,on等介词
They first met fifteen years ago (NOT 不说 at/in fifteen years ago).
他们15年前相识。
Do not use 'since' or 'before' with agoago不和since或before连用
I came to the US two months ago (NOT 不说 since/before two months ago).
我两个月前来到美国。
nGRAMMAR: Patterns with ago
Use the simple past, not the present perfect, with ago. You say: ago和过去时连用,不和现在完成时连用
I started a new job a few weeks ago.
几星期前我开始了新工作。
✗Don’t say: I’ve started a new job a few weeks ago.
Don’t use a preposition such as ‘at’, ‘in’, or ‘on’ before a phrase with ago. You say:
They first met fifteen years ago.
他们15年前相识。
✗Don’t say: They first met at/in/fifteen years ago.
Don’t use ‘since’ or ‘before’ with ago. You say:
I came to the US two months ago.
我两个月前来到美国。
✗Don’t say: I came to the US since/before two months ago.
Examples from the Corpus
ago• Thirty years ago 33 % of universitystudents were female; now there are more women than men.• "When did you hurt your back?" "About a fortnightago".• Michael left the office 20 minutesago.• Michael left the office about half an hourago.• My daughter was married just over a year ago.• Pauline wrote to me once, but that was agesago.• We went down to see a show in London not so long ago.• After all, he was supposed to have been hanged half a centuryago.• Even their twittering seems fairly low-keycompared with the excited sounds they made just a few weeks ago.• The good oleboys had their day two years ago.• "When did you live in Germany?" "Oh, it was a long time ago."• The only thing we ever get is old, stalenews about where they used to be, some time ago.• Did you see that program about genetics that was on a little while ago?• I met your father once, a long time ago.• Lucy's auntdied a few monthsago.• I had my keys a minute ago, and now I can't find them.• That was less than three and a half hours ago, but it might have been years.• The gun was pieced together over twenty years ago by Caltech geophysicist Tom Ahrens.• George went out half an hour ago. Can I have him call you back?• The company a year ago changed its reportingperiod to a fiscal year that ends March 31 from a calendar year.• How long ago did you buy the computer?• How long ago was that, Dad?
some time ago• Her father died some time ago.• I lost my taste for sweetssome time ago.• The only thing we ever get is old, stale news about where they used to be, some time ago.• They moved to Chicago some time ago , a couple of years I think.• We did a job for Jett some time ago, and he told me to drop in whenever I was passing.• She had arrived with her parentssome time ago but seemed to be dancing with a matador.• She must have gone to bedsome time ago, else Jessie wouldn't have been able to sneak out.• The extent to which certainspecies of marinefishes may be tamed was publishedsome time ago in a popularweeklymagazine.• Maybe your financialposition has changed recently and plans you made some time ago need reviewing.
Originago
(1400-1500) From the past participle of ago“to pass away”((11-17 centuries)), from Old Englishagan, from gan“to go”