ahora

See also: åhöra

Basque

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

ahora

1. allative singular of aho

Spanish

Alternative forms

• agora (obsolete or dialectal)

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish agora, from Latin hāc hōrā (“at this time”).

According to Coromines and Pascual, the original form agora was, from the early modern period, increasingly left to both high and low registers, in favour of the phonetically reduced ahora. Francisco de Quevedo in the early 17th century mocks agora in his Cuento de Cuentos as a "rustic vulgarity", although the term continued to be used by archaizing poets into the 19th century, and it continues to survive to this day in various non-prestigious dialects. As for ahora, there is a very rare early attestation (spelled aora) in Juan Ruiz in the early 14th century, but the term doesn't enter common written usage until the 16th century with writers like Cervantes and Góngora, side-by-side the older agora. Compare Portuguese agora.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈoɾa/ [aˈo.ɾa]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oɾa
• Syllabification: a‧ho‧ra

Adverb

ahora

1. now (at the present time)

   Synonyms: (colloquial) ahorita, ya

2. just now, just a moment ago (in the past)

   Synonyms: hace un momento, (colloquial) ahorita

3. very soon, in a moment (in the future)

   Synonyms: (colloquial) ahorita, ya

4. (usually preceded by de) of nowadays, of today, latter-day

   Synonym: hoy

   La juventud de ahora entiende esto y más.

   Today's youth understands this and more.

5. (Latin America) today

   Synonyms: hoy, hoy en día

   Ahora me levanté temprano y con ánimo.

   Today I woke up early and full of energy.

   Te veré ahora en la noche.

   I'll see you later today in the evening.

6. however, on the other hand

   Synonym: sin embargo

   Te quiero mucho. Ahora eso no quiere decir que haré lo que digas.

   I love you. However, that doesn't mean I'll do what(ever) you say.

7. (correlative, literary) sometimes...other times

   Ahora dice una cosa, ahora dice lo contrario.

   She sometimes says one thing, and then other times she says the opposite.

Derived terms

• ahora bien
• ahora entro yo
• ahora es cuando
• ahora lo oigo
• ahora mismo
• ahorita
• de ahora en adelante
• de ahora para ahorita
• hasta ahora
• por ahora

 

Conjunction

ahora ... ahora ...

1. (correlative, literary) now...now, whether...or...

   Synonym: ora ... ora ...

   Ahora en la sala, ahora en el comedor, había un desastre por doquier.

   Whether you looked at the kitchen, or the dining room, there was a disaster everywhere.

Further reading

• Joan Coromines, José A[ntonio] Pascual (1984) “hora”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico [Critic Castilian and Hispanic Etymological Dictionary] (in Spanish), volume III (G–Ma), Madrid: Gredos, →ISBN, pages 387-388
• “ahora”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014