最近って英語でなんて言うの？

Hi everybody!

How do you say 「最近」 in English? There are basically two common English words that have the same meaning:

recently & lately.

Most students know these words but many, many students make mistakes when they use them. だいたいみんなの生徒さんは “recently” and “lately” の意味が分かるけどこの単語の使い方はちょっと難しいみたいですね。　

So today let`s practice using recently & lately.

First of all、latelyって「遅く」と言う意味ではないです。遅くって late ですね。　

For example, if you want to say 「遅くまで起きていた」 you should say “I stayed up late,” not “I stayed up lately.”

Now here is a mistake that many students make. Japanese students of English often say something like…

I have no date recently. ←これはジャパニーズイングリッシュです！　なぜならば、英語の場合は｢最近何々をしてない」って言おうとすると現在完了進行形を使います。　

Do you remember this pattern from junior high school? ↓↓ 

have (not)/has (not) + been + 動詞ing

So, how do you say 「最近デートしてない」 in English? You can say…

I haven`t had a date recently./I haven`t had a date lately. ←現在完了形

or you can say…

I haven`t been dating recently./I haven`t been dating lately. ←現在完了進行形

Here are some other examples…

I haven`t been sleeping much lately. (最近あまり寝てない。)

I`ve been eating out a lot recently. (最近よく外食してる。)

Vanessa hasn`t been doing anything recently. (バネッサは最近何もしてない。)

Yukio has been calling me every day recently. (ユキオは最近毎日私に電話してる。)

Well, that`s all for today! 

♪Learning is the greatest joy♪

Bob