prepositions - Postpositions in English and "ago"


I was informed earlier today that the word ago is actually a postposition and the only one of its kind in English. Is this correct? If so, why do dictionaries not use this classification and prefer to label it an adverb instead?



Answer



Some sources (see Nordquist's article, especially the reference to Allerton's work) do list ago as English's sole postposition, but there are actually quite a few other words that pattern the same way:



  • hence: five weeks hence


and the following words, and others, have senses where they follow this usage, although otherwise they are prepositions and/or adjectives:



  • through: the whole day through

  • (a)round: the world around

  • away: ten miles away

  • wide: four feet wide

  • long: ten feet long

  • high: eight miles high


It's interesting that these all seem to result in phrases that act as adverbs of temporal or spatial extent.


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