1. When talking about a finished action in the past in relation to the present, we can use the past time marker ‘ago’. The time that has passed between now and that action ending in the past is given as a duration (= a length of time).
For example, the year is 2012. I lived in Japan until 2010. (=I stopped living in Japan in 2010 = the time between the action finishing and now is two years). Therefore, I can say ‘I lived in Japan two years ago‘.
2. Find an example of the above in this extract from The Janitor (Chapter 10).
3. Use ‘ago’ in these examples
a. She met him on Tuesday. Today is Friday.
b. They went to the cinema to see a movie in June. Now it is August.
c. He left school in 2000. It is now 2012.
d. She called him at 6pm. It is now 6.45pm.
e. They filled their car with petrol on the 20th. It is now the 27th.