"As discussed earlier" vs "as discussed"

Question

"As discussed earlier" vs "as discussed"

In the phrase "as discussed," "discussed" tells listeners that the conversation happened in the past. "Earlier" doesn't give listeners new information, so it isn't needed.

Last Updated: March 20, 2019

"Discussed" is in past tense, so it signals that a conversation already happened.

"Earlier" isn't needed because listeners have enough information to know that this event happened in the past.

Explanation provided by a TextRanch English expert

Some alternatives from our editors:

as discussed
as we talked about

"As discussed" is one way to reference a conversation that happened in the past.

To make this sound more friendly, add the group who had the discussion to the phrase. "As we've discussed" is one way to do this.

Explanation provided by a TextRanch English expert

Some examples from our editors:

As discussed at the monthly meeting, the new ad campaign will debut this week.
As discussed yesterday, I've made some changes to the presentation.
As discussed in the previous thread, our company's policies will be changing.

Some alternatives from our editors:

as we've discussed
as we discussed
as we talked about

Answer 1

As discussed earlier

This is not correct. Don't use this phrase.

Answer 2

as discussed

This is correct

"As discussed earlier" vs "as discussed"

As discussed earlier

as discussed

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