Wednesday, October 21, 2015

word usage - A while ago and a few minutes ago


I was told that another alternative for 'a few minutes ago' is 'a short while ago'. Let's say I am a student of a 20- minute English phone class and my teacher asks me questions which I answer during the first 10 minutes of our class. On the second 10 minutes she corrects my sentences. She says, "A while ago you answered, 'I go to work yesterday'. It should be 'went'. Past tense." Is it correct to use 'a while ago' and not 'a short while ago'? The situation is very clear. We never talked before the 20-minute class. It means that she refers to the period of time within the 20-minute class. Thank you.




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