now
part of speech
adverb; conjunction (now that); noun (for now, until now)
meaning for a pupil
1) Now means at this time, at the present moment: I am busy now. tree →
2) Now means at once, immediately: Come here now! tree →
3) Now can start a sentence to get attention or move on: Now, let's begin. tree →
4) «Now that» means because at this time: Now that it's sunny, let's go out. tree →
5) «For now» means for the time being; «by now» means already, by this time. tree →
6) (casual) «Right now», «rn» (texts), «just now» (South Africa, UK north: soon or a moment ago), «now then» (UK greeting); «now you're talking» means that's a good idea. tree →
7) (rough) «Now!» shouted alone is a sharp order; «now look what you've done» blames someone. tree →
8) (formal) The exam voice says «at present», «currently», «at this juncture», «presently», «at the conclusion of the transactions», «subsequent to the changes». tree →
sense in the lessons
the amount at the end of the story («How many cards does Ben have now?» = the count after all the changes); in class «Now, let's begin», «right now»; in everyday life «now and then» (sometimes), «from now on», «just now», «for now»; in texts «rn»; in rough talk «now look what you've done»; in the exam voice «at present», «currently», «subsequent to these transactions»
examples
- How many cards does Ben have now? tree →
- Now there are 9 birds on the roof. tree →
- How many children are in the bus now? tree →
- It is raining now. tree →
- Put your toys away now, please. tree →
- Now, open your books at page 10. tree →
- I see my cousins now and then. tree →
- From now on I will brush my teeth twice a day. tree →
- at the shops rn, how many eggs we got now? tree →
- Now look what you've done, 3 eggs on the floor! tree →
- Pizza? Now you're talking. tree →
- Determine the number of cards currently in Ben's possession, subsequent to the aforementioned transactions. tree →
- The candles were now lighted--what brightness! tree →
note
«now» asks for the amount after the change; the operation comes from the change (got, lost, gave); «currently» and «at present» in an exam ask the same. «Now!» alone is an order, not a number question. «just now» can mean a moment ago or soon, depending on where the speaker is from. Do not mix «now» with «know» (to have in your mind): they look alike but sound different.
In the corpora
- Lenders make borrowing look easy: "Cash in minutes!", "Buy now, pay later!".
- Buy now pay later splits a purchase into instalments; it is still borrowing, with charges if a payment is late.
- Fostering is looking after a child from another family for a while, when their own parents cannot cope for now.
- «I'm fine» often means «I'm not fine, but I don't want to talk about it now».
- Knowing how money, work and choices really work now makes the big steps much less scary later.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «now» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.