Question

which sentence uses prior correctly?
the prior owners of lindseys house planted a maple sapling in the yard, and now its enormous.
lindseys new sapling has grown into a prior maple tree that looks healthier than the old one.
lindsey will trim the sapling in the prior spring, after it has started to grow more quickly.

Explanation:

To determine the correct use of "prior", we analyze each sentence:

• "Prior" means "previous" or "earlier". In the first sentence, "prior owners" refers to the owners who owned the house before Lindsey, which is a correct use of "prior" (meaning previous).
• In the second sentence, "prior maple tree" is incorrect because "prior" implies a time - based or ownership - based previous entity, and a tree can't be "prior" in this context (it's illogical to describe a tree as prior compared to another in this way).
• In the third sentence, "prior spring" is incorrect because "prior" would refer to a spring before a specific time, but the sentence is talking about a future action ("will trim") and "prior spring" doesn't make sense in this context (it should be something like "next spring" or "the spring before [a specific event]").

Answer:

The prior owners of Lindsey's house planted a maple sapling in the yard, and now it's enormous.