Unit 7: LATELY

Unit 7:  Lately

Review the uses of the present perfect that we have studied so far. Pay special attention to the words in bold (heavy, dark letters).

1.   a.   How long have you studied English at City College?

     b.  I’ve studied here since January, 1997, and I like coming here.

2.   a.   How is your report coming along? (=How are you doing on your report?)

     b.  Not very well, actually. I’ve only written two pages so far, and we need to write five.

3.   a.   How do you like your class?

     b.  Up to now, it hasn’t been too hard, but I’m a little worried about the next quiz.

4.   a.   Have you ever studied Russian before? (before, in your whole life)

     b.  Yes, I have. I studied it in high school. (past tense with a definite past time expression)

5.   Has she ever turned a composition in late? (since she started this class. The class isn't finished yet.)

6.   How many times have you taken Level 5? (since you started studying here)

7.   How many employers have you worked for here? (since you moved to this city)

Now let’s look at another time expression which usually uses the present perfect:  lately.

lately and recently (最近, 不久前, últimamente, recientemente,

в последнее время, недавно, مؤخراً، حديثاً, مؤخرًا , حالياً )

Lately refers to a time period that started in the near past and continues into the present.

§         My son has been sick a lot lately. If he doesn’t get better, I’ll have to take him to the doctor.

§ Have you seen him lately? He looks terrible!

You cannot use lately with the simple past.       

WRONG:  Lately she was sick.   RIGHT: ☺Lately she has been sick.

If you use a definite past time expression, such as yesterday or a week ago, you must use past tense.

§ She was sick yesterday, so she couldn’t come to class. (a definite past time expression: yesterday)

§ I saw him a week ago. He looked awful! (a definite past time expression: a week ago)

Another word, recently, often has the same meaning as lately. However, these two words can cause problems for English learners. Lately almost always uses the present perfect. In contrast, recently sometimes uses the present perfect and sometimes the simple past. 

§ I’ve been tired a lot lately. (or: recently)

§ She has felt a bit under the weather lately. (or: recently)     

However, when the time period does not continue into the present, you must use recently:

§ Queen Elizabeth recently traveled to Australia.  She arrived back in England two weeks ago.

§ Recently, we were in San Francisco and we ate at an excellent restaurant called Gary Danko.