Sentence A: Where's the ring you had earlier?
Sentence B: Where's the ring you had a while ago?
I want to know what corrections would be made to these two sentences, and which one is better to use (as a native English speaker would say).
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Sign up to join this communitySentence A: Where's the ring you had earlier?
Sentence B: Where's the ring you had a while ago?
I want to know what corrections would be made to these two sentences, and which one is better to use (as a native English speaker would say).
Either “earlier” or “a while ago” would be fine in this instance, but would communicate slightly different things.
“Earlier” could be any time in the past, but would most likely be used to refer to the recent past.
“A while ago” could also refer to just about any time span in the past, but would most likely be used to indicate the more distant past.
Here are two scenarios to demonstrate what I mean:
Halfway through the wedding reception, the groom switched from the showy ring they'd used in the ceremony to the more comfortable, understated ring he’d wear from then on.
“Where's the ring you had on earlier?” asked his cousin.
“I took it off and replaced it with this one about an hour ago.” answered the groom.
Unbeknownst to her friend Samantha, whom she hadn’t seen for five years, Angela had misplaced a topaz ring on a camping trip three years ago.
“Where's that ring you had a while ago?” asked Samantha.
“I lost it while trying to fish by hand in the Ozarks.” answered Angela.