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Tkacka15 Posted 8 years ago
Vocabulary

All those aeons ago

"They trained their eyes on that patch of the sky, scouring it for signs of the cosmic accelerator that spat out the neutrino all those aeons ago."

(From ABC Science site.)

Is "ago" an adverb or a postposition in the phrase all those aeons ago? Or, it simply doesn't matter (a sort of unnecessary over-analyzing on my part).

I think it is a postposition linking the noun phrase all those aeons.

  

Top answer

tkacka15 Is "ago" an adverb or a postposition in the phrase all those aeons ago? You may as well ask Is "ago" an adverb or a postposition in the English language ? If you delve into books and articles in English linguistics, you will find many scholars who prefer the term 'postposition' for 'ago'; nevertheless, dictionaries, being more traditional and conservative, say that 'ago' is an adverb, some saying that can also be considered an adjective.

  • tkacka15 Is "ago" an adverb or a postposition in the phrase all those aeons ago?
  • You may as well ask Is "ago" an adverb or a postposition in the English language ?
  • If you delve into books and articles in English linguistics, you will find many scholars who prefer the term 'postposition' for 'ago'; nevertheless, dictionaries, being more traditional and conservative, say that 'ago' is an adverb, some saying that can also be considered an adjective.
  • Merriam-Webster: adjective or adverb Oxford: adverb American Heritage: adverb and adjective Collins: adverb MacMillan: adverb Cambridge: adverb CJ
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1 Answers
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tkacka15Is "ago" an adverb or a postposition in the phrase all those aeons ago?

You may as well ask

Is "ago" an adverb or a postposition in the English language?


If you delve into books and articles in English linguistics, you will find many scholars who prefer the term 'postposition' for 'ago'; nevertheless, dictionaries, being more

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