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along

a·longUK /əˈlɒŋ/preposition, adverb

along is spelled A-L-O-N-G: 5 letters and 2 syllables (a·long). It appears 240 times per million words in written English, the 417th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a preposition, along means “By the length of; in a line with the length of; lengthwise next to” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in along?

Letters5: A-L-O-N-G
Syllables2: a·long
In writing240 times per million words; the 417th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; 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 along?

Along appears 240 times per million words in written English, the 417th 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 along?

  • UK /əˈlɒŋ/
  • /əˈlæŋ/
  • /əˈlɑŋ/

Along has 2 syllables, split a·long in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-along.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with along?

4 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as along from its last stressed vowel (/ɒŋ/, British pronunciation):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: logan, anglo, longa, galon.

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 along mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

preposition

  1. 1

    By the length of; in a line with the length of; lengthwise next to.

    Water whished along the boat as we rowed upstream.

  2. 2

    In a line with, with a progressive motion on; onward on; forward on.

adverb

  1. 1

    In company; together.

    John played the piano and everyone sang along.

  2. 2

    Onward, forward, with progressive action.

    Don't stop here. Just move along.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Along in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchle long de (by the length of; in a line with the length of…), accompagné (in company, together)
Germanentlang, längs (by the length of; in a line with the length of…), weiter (onward, forward)
Portugueseao longo de (by the length of; in a line with the length of…), junto, comigo, conosco (in company, together), adiante (onward, forward), por (in a line with, with a progressive motion on…)
Spanisha lo largo, a lo largo de (by the length of; in a line with the length of…), por (in a line with, with a progressive motion on…)

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 along come from?

From Middle English, from Old English andlang, from prefix and- + lang (“long”). Doublet of endlong.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after along