The phrase "a couple previous" is not correct in standard written English.
It is typically used incorrectly when trying to refer to a few prior instances or events.
Example: "I remember a couple previous meetings where we discussed this issue."
Alternatives: "a few earlier" or "a couple of prior".
The firm blamed the credit crunch and problems in the retail market for its troubles and said a couple of previous deals with investors fell through at the last minute, adding to its woes.
Actually, though, there were a couple of previous hints in his pre-Pirates days that this type of material could lend the actor gravitas in the eyes of mainstream audiences.
Just out of curiosity, I looked at the same sum from a couple of previous years, and by coincidence found that in 2005 my payroll costs were the same: $337 an hour.
The frozen romanticism of the film — a story of a man and a woman who meet at a castle-like hotel and may or may not actually have been a couple the previous year — is not the odd element out in the director's filmography.
It was almost 20 years ago that Robert Shiller, whose important new book, "Irrational Exuberance," has made a couple of previous appearances in this column, produced what he thought was an ironclad argument against the then-dominant "efficient market" theory of stock prices.
This year, the number of awards stands at 10, down a couple from previous competitions due to cutbacks by the French government.
"He has already had a couple of previous loan spells at this level, so he knows what it's all about.
There have been a couple of previous attempts to define and propagate Fauxhemia(n), notably by Urban Dictionary, which specifically attached the word to a place where trendiness hides the high rents and trust funds.
Sinatra was getting over a cold that had caused the postponement of a couple of previous shows, and his voice was husky and raspy as a result.
The young actor, who portrays Artie on Ryan Murphy's hit Fox musical dramedy, has had a couple of previous hosting duties on Fox.
