Nowas an adverb of time
We usenowmost commonly as an adverb of time. It means ‘at the present time’, ‘at this moment’ or ‘very soon’. We usually putnowwith this meaning in end position:
My father worked here and my brothers work herenow.
I don’t want anything to eatnow. I’ll have something later.
Can we gonow?
In more formal styles, we can usenowin mid position (between the subject and the main verb, or after the modal verb or first auxiliary verb, or afterbeas a main verb):
She used to work as a city economist; shenowworks as an adviser to the oil industry.
Laura Tranter is a young theatre director who isnowin the middle of rehearsals for ‘Romeo and Juliet’.
We can premodifynow. We usejust nowto talk about something that has happened recently andright nowto talk about something that is either happening or is about to happen immediately:
I thought I saw her car herejust now, going towards Dersingham’s house.(very recently)
‘I need to talk to you for a minute.’ She shook her head. ‘I’m sorry, but I’m pretty busyright now.’
I’ll phone herright now.(immediately)
We usenowin speaking, to signal what is going to happen next. We often find this in a classroom or meeting when the speaker is giving instructions or information or looking ahead to the next point of discussion. This meaning ofnowis common in mid position or front position:
We’renowgoing to look at the exercise on page 10.
I’dnowlike to introduce the next speaker.
NowI think we should discuss the sales figures.
Whennowis in mid position, we often use it to express change as the result of something:
The business has become bigger and bigger. Wenowhave offices in Japan, America and Belgium as well as the UK.
It isnowclear that dinosaurs were supreme for 130 million years, and that mammals co-existed with them.
Nowas a discourse marker
We usenowin speaking to signal something new, particularly when giving instructions or introducing a new idea or topic. We often use it with other similar markers such asrightorOK:
Now, before we start the actual meeting proper, I’ve invited Carol to come along and tell you about our recycling project.
[teacher in class]
Right.Now, I don’t want anyone to call out the answers. Okay? Listen.
Nowfor emphasis
We sometimes usenowto make a command or order stronger. We use it before or after imperative clauses:
Nowstop crying. It’s going to be OK.
Don’t lose themnow. They’re my favourite gloves.
Now(that)
We can usenowthatas a conjunction to refer to something and its result(s):
Now thatshe had his attention, she couldn’t think of anything to say.
In informal speaking we can leave outthat:
Now(that) the weather’s nice, the children play outside all day.