already
al·read·y/ɔːlˈɹɛdi/adverb
already is spelled A-L-R-E-A-D-Y, 3 syllables: al·read·y. The wrong spelling people search most is allready: about 60 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 33 of all searches for the word. Already is an adverb meaning “Prior to some specified time, either past, present, or future; by this time; previously”.
How many letters and syllables are in already?
| Letters | 7: A-L-R-E-A-D-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: al·read·y |
| In writing | 355 times per million words; the 256th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 5; the most searched, allready, about 60 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell already?
Already is spelled A-L-R-E-A-D-Y. 5 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 19 of the searches for already in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is already?
Already appears 355 times per million words in written English, the 256th 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 already?
- UK /ɔːlˈɹɛdi/
- /ɑlˈɹɛdi/
- /ɔlˈɹɛdi/
Already has 3 syllables, split al·read·y in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-already.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What does already mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adverb
- 1
Prior to some specified time, either past, present, or future; by this time; previously.
I was surprised that she hadn’t already told me the news.
- 2
So soon.
Are you quitting already?
- 3
CanadaUSAn intensifier used to emphasize impatience or express exasperation.
I wish they'd finish already, so we can get going.
- 4
Indicates the completion of an action (whether past or hypothetical), or more generally, perfective aspect.
You frame the picture for me already anot?
- 5
Marks a change in state, more or less in the same manner as the inchoative aspect.
I don’t think he can take it already.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate already?
Wiktionary records 3 abbreviations of already: alr, alrdy, d.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Already in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | déjà , à la fin, enfin |
| German | bereits, schon , endlich |
| Portuguese | já , de uma vez |
| Spanish | ya |
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 already come from?
From Middle English alredy (“fully; already”), equivalent to al- (“all, completely”) + ready. Cognate with West Frisian alreeds (“already”), Dutch alreeds (“already”), Afrikaans alreeds (“already”), Middle Low German alreide, alreids ("already"; whence modern German Low German alreeds (“already”)), Danish allerede (“already”), Swedish allaredan (“already”), Norwegian Nynorsk allereie (“already”). More at all, ready. The use as an intensifier in American English is a semantic loan from Yiddish שוין (shoyn), attested from 1903.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).