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Tenacious Learner Posted 15 years ago
Grammar

The Adverb Already

Hi teachers,

Is this definition correct?

One of the uses of the adverb 'already' is to emphasizes, often with suprise, actions or situations that have happened before now.

If it is so, I have another question, 'before now' can only mean a short time ago, never a long time ago.

If I am right, can 'recently' be a synonym for 'already'?

Thanks in advance
  

Top answer

Thinking Spain Hi teachers, Is this definition correct? One of the uses of the adverb 'already' is to emphasizes, often with suprise, actions or situations that have happened before now. If it is so, I have another question, 'before now' can only mean a short time ago, never a long time ago.

— Anonymous

  • Thinking Spain Hi teachers, Is this definition correct?
  • One of the uses of the adverb 'already' is to emphasizes, often with suprise, actions or situations that have happened before now.
  • If it is so, I have another question, 'before now' can only mean a short time ago, never a long time ago.
  • If I am right, can 'recently' be a synonym for 'already'?
  • Thanks in advance Hi, Before now = Before the present time (moment) where the word now is a noun.
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8 Answers
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Thinking SpainHi teachers,
Is this definition correct?
One of the uses of the adverb 'already' is to emphasizes, often with suprise, actions or situations that have happened before now.
If it is so, I have another question, 'before now' can only mean a short time ago, never a long time ago.
If I am right, can 'recently' be a synonym for 'already'?
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Thinking SpainIf it is so, I have another question, 'before now' can only mean a short time ago, never a long time ago.
If I am right, can 'recently' be a synonym for 'already'?
In some cases, it cannot be used as a synonym:

A: Take your medicine.

B: I've taken it already.

Already means that the particular action has been
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Hi AlpheccaStars,

Thank you very much for your reply.
AlpheccaStarsIn some cases, it cannot be used as a synonym:
A: Take your medicine.
B: I've taken it already.
Already means that the particular action has been achieved. This is not true for recently.
That's what I thought, 'recently' is only possible for some cases, it is just one of the
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There is not an exact synonym, but you can use a time reference indicating when the action completed:

A: Take your medicine.
B: I took it just now / a few minutes ago.
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Hi AlpheccaStars,
AlpheccaStarsA: Take your medicine.
B: I took it just now / a few minutes ago.
That's a very good idea. Thank you very much.
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Emotion: smileHi Anonymous,

Thank you very much for your reply.

TS
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You may want to think of these in terms of pairs of opposites.

Think of X as the present moment. V is an event. recently and soon are opposites.

.........V..X........................

V happened recently.

.............X..V....................

V will happen soon.

____________________________

Now add the idea of an
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Hi Jim,

That's quite a chart. I'll include it immediately in my grammar notes.

Thank you so much. I really like it. It will be really helpful for my students.
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