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.
Learn English – A while ago and a few minutes ago
word-usage
Related Solutions
So to distill the relevant portion of the canonical post (which I still recommend you read):
The use of the past or present perfect implies the action happens relative to something else. The past perfect suggests the action occurs before some other action (which you will subsequently mention) while the present perfect implies the action is still going on.
The phrase "It has just finished" adds a little more emphasis to the just than "it just finished", since it implies the action was going on right up to the present moment. Otherwise the meaning is much the same. Feel free to use either structure as feels appropriate.
That being said, "it has just finished a few days ago" is an odd construction. It should be "it had just finished a few days ago (before something else happened)". The action happened in the past, so (if you are going to use the perfect at all) you should use the past perfect.
I don't think Google is a good resource to judge the popularity of an English phrase since it searches for results with parts of the phrase and not necessarily the entire phrase. Try Googling "it has just finished a few days ago" (with the quotes) and you'll only see three results, two of which are this question. :)
Ago measures a length of time into the past from now (the present).
At ten o'clock, an hour ago was nine o'clock. A year ago is (approximately) 365 days previously.
In quoted speech ago is used to refer to a length of time prior to the speech: In 2010 he said, "I gave up smoking three years ago."
Before marks a period prior to a particular point/day/year in history or an event/period.
Before means prior to/earlier than a time/date or an event.
Unlike ago, before does not usually relate to now
Before can refer to the past (*before he died) or to the future (before she arrives). It is always tied to a particular time or event.
Best Answer
A "while" is a length of time that is not defined. Used without a modifier, it implies one or more of the following:
In your example, both of these probably apply. The teacher's point was made without specifying "10 minutes ago" because you knew of the conversation she was referencing.
The use of "short" or "long" becomes necessary if a more specific, but still vague, length of time is required for clear communication. Let's continue with your teacher example.
Imagine that the conversation she was referencing had occurred not ten minutes before, but a week. When she says that you said something "a while ago," you might reply "I don't remember saying that." Then she might clarify, "Well, it was a long while ago."
In this example number 1 in my list above still applies. The teacher can remain vague about the exact amount of time because the specifics are not important. However, because you could not recall the moment she was describing, more context was needed.
For a final example, suppose your friend came up to you and said "I saw Brad Pitt at the grocery store!"
You would love to see Brad Pitt for yourself, so you want to know if he is likely to still be at the store. You ask, "When?"
If your friend answers "A while ago," you don't have any new information to help you. You would have to press them for more information.
If they answer "A long while ago," you might as well stay home and watch World War Z again, because there is no way Brad Pitt is still at the grocery store.
If they answer "A short while ago," then you can run out to your moped and zip over to the store. He might still be there!
One final qualifier: "a short while" and "a long while" aren't very common in American colloquial English. You'd be more likely to hear "a little while" and "a long time," respectively.