a few hours before v.s. a few hours ago

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hi,

Can I say I did it a few hours before ? (I want to say that I did it a few hours ago)

Thanks !

2

Hi Alex

Generally speaking, you can only replace ‘ago’ with the word ‘before’ in reported speech or in a text in which ‘before when’ is clear. Usually the tense of the verb will be past perfect:

Direct speech: I did it a few hours ago.
Reported speech: He said he had done it a few hours before.

Having gone to bed only three hours before, he didn’t hear the alarm when it went off at 5 a.m.
==> Having gone to bed = (Because he) had gone to bed
==> three hours before = three hours before 5 a.m.
.

3

Hi, Amy
Many thanks !

Actually, I just remembered that rule about turning “direct speech” into “indirect speech”. This rule states that we must perform the following changes:

[color=green]Ago -> [color=red]Before or earlier.
[color=green]Next week / month / year -> [color=red]the next week / month / year OR the week / month / year after OR the following week / month / year.
[color=green]tomorrow -> [color=red]the day after / the next day / the following day
[color=green]now -> [color=red]then
[color=green]today -> [color=red]that day
[color=green]tonight -> [color=red]that night
[color=green]yesterday -> [color=red]the day before / the previous day
[color=green]Last week / month / year -> [color=red]the week / month / year. before OR the previous week / month / year.

4

Hi Yankee,

What about, “I did it a few hours back”?

Does it sound OK in direct speech?

5

Hi Daemon

So sorry to answer so belatedly.

Your sentence sounds unnatural to me. The word ‘back’ is occasionally used (instead of the word ‘ago’) to talk about a time in the past. However, I’d say the time referred to would usually be more distant than ‘a few hours ago’:

  • a few months back
  • a few years back
    .
6

Amy,

You still deserve a big “Thank You”. :slight_smile:

[size=200]Thank You! :slight_smile: [/size]