recently / not long ago / a short time ago.

Hi,

-Are you hungry?
-No, I had lunch recently / not long ago / a short time ago.

Which one is correct? All 3 are OK, although 'recently' sounds a little more formal.


I often say, and hear, 'No, I just had lunch'. ''Just' here has the meaning of 'very recently'.

Clive, thank you for your reply.

One more question. Which answer do you think is better?

1. I've just had lunch.
2. I just had lunch.

Hi Alex,

I think that the correct one should be 'I've just had lunch', but you can hear 'I just had lunch' in informal speeches.

I've just had lunch is an example of the Present Perfect, a tense used to connect past actions to the present. It is correct in this case, because it connects the past action of eating to the present state (being full) and the consequences (not wanting to eat any more).

It is not so common in many American English dialects: they will use the past simple (I just had lunch) i

Thank you, everybody, for your replies.