# "ago"



## babaz

Hello,

"I was there two days *ago*."

How could translate this sentence ? Several ways ?


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## hebrewman

1. הייתי שם לפני יומיים
  This is the translation that I can think of, in time description couples,  we don't use the number 2 like "two days" rather the form for couple. 

 Other way will be to change the order like : Two days ago I was there.


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## babaz

Ok, so there isn't literal translation for "ago".
Since לפני means since/for.


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## Carrot Ironfoundersson

babaz said:


> Ok, so there isn't literal translation for "ago".
> Since לפני means since/for.



Basically it means "before" and is not used to denote time periods the way "for" is used in English.


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## arielipi

שלשום
אשתקד
אמש\אתמול

lifney doesnt mean for... it is equal to before/ago.
me'az is equal to since.
for is not direct translatable.


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## babaz

Sorry, that means "before" but also "ago" ("il y a") ?

Why couldn't we use me'az to translate "for" ?
I'm here for two hours.
Ani po me'az chte cha'ot.


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## Carrot Ironfoundersson

babaz said:


> Sorry, that means "before" but also "ago" ("il y a") ?
> 
> Why couldn't we use me'az to translate "for" ?
> I'm here for two hours.
> Ani po me'az chte cha'ot.



OK, first of all, the dual of שעה is שעתיים. 

מאז is a conjunction and can be translated as "since": אנחנו מכירים מאז שהיינו ילדים = We've known each other since we were kids. מאז אתמול לא אכלתי כלום = I haven't eaten since yesterday.

If you want to say something like _I've been here for two hours_, you can just say אני פה (כבר) שעתיים.


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## babaz

Ok, thanks !

I thought "kvar" only meant "already".


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## babaz

Therefore, אני פה לפני שעתיים is also correct, I suppose.


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## Carrot Ironfoundersson

babaz said:


> Ok, thanks !
> 
> I thought "kvar" only meant "already".



I does mean "already", and you can omit it It's just that without כבר the sentence didn't seem complete to me. Another example: אנחנו גרים בדירה הזאת חודשיים = We've been living in this apartment for two months.


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## origumi

babaz said:


> Therefore, אני פה לפני שעתיים is also correct, I suppose.


לפני שעתיים is a single point in time. Therefore you better say אני פה *מ*לפני שעתיים.


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## babaz

מלפני = for
מאז = since


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## Ali Smith

How do you say _ago_ in classical Hebrew? I know לפני can only mean "in front of" (in the sense of "in the presence of") in classical Hebrew. It is never used in the temporal sense in classical Hebrew.


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## Drink

Never? You should be a lot more cautious before making such statements.

Gesenius cites the following verses as examples of the temporal sense: Amos 1:1, Gen 13:10, Gen 29:26, Pro 8:25, Zech 8:10, Gen 30:30, Jerem 28:8, and more.


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## GeriReshef

Translation is not word by word.. Each language has its own formulations, expressions, etc.
I was there two days *ago*. = הייתי שם לפני יומיים but also הייתי שם שלשום. In English you have only "two days" (and not the plural of two יומיים) and "before yesterday".

On the other hand, in English you have "ago" and "before" (they are not synonyms and each one has its own functionality) while in Hebrew we have  לפני (which replaces both of them) but also בטרם (which replaces only before).

בטרם Jeremiah 1 5


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