ago
/əˈɡoʊ/postposition
ago is spelled A-G-O: 3 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 263 times per million words in written English, the 369th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a postposition, ago means “Before now, before the present time” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in ago?
| Letters | 3: A-G-O |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 263 times per million words; the 369th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is ago?
Ago appears 263 times per million words in written English, the 369th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce ago?
- UK /əˈɡəʊ/
- US /əˈɡoʊ/
- [əˈɡʌo]
Ago has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-ago.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with ago?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as ago from its last stressed vowel (/oʊ/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: gao, goa, oga.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
What does ago mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
postposition
- 1
Before now, before the present time
I got married ten years ago.
adjective
- 1
archaicGone; gone by; gone away; passed; passed away.
in days ago / in days agone
- 2
archaicNearly gone; dead. (used in Devonshire at the turn of the 19th century)
Woe the day–she is agone!
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Ago in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense past; gone by; since:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does ago come from?
From Middle English ago, agon (“passed”), past participle of agon (“to depart, escape, pass”), from Old English āgān (“to go away, pass away, go forth, come to pass”), from Proto-Germanic *uz- (“out”), *gāną (“to go”), equivalent to a- + gone, and by surface analysis, a- + go.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).