説明
Use "late" when something is not on time, or when you do something after the usual time. Use "lately" when you mean "recently". "Lately" usually goes with the present perfect, because it talks about a time period that leads up to now.
For example, in "I have been busy lately," "I" is the subject, "have been" shows a situation that continues to the present, "busy" describes my state, and "lately" tells us the time is recent. Japanese often says "最近忙しいです," but English usually needs the present perfect here. So "The train is late" means the train is not on time, but "I have been busy lately" means my recent situation has continued until now.
"late" は、時間に遅れているときや、いつもより遅いときに使います。"lately" は "recently" と同じで、「最近」という意味です。"lately" は今まで続いている期間を表すので、たいてい現在完了と一緒に使います。
例えば "I have been busy lately." では、"I" が主語、"have been" が「今まで続いている状態」、"busy" がその状態、"lately" が「最近」という時間を表します。日本語なら「最近忙しいです」で自然ですが、英語ではこの意味で現在完了を使うのが普通です。つまり "The train is late" は「電車が遅れている」、"I have been busy lately" は「最近ずっと忙しい」という意味です。
例文
- The train is late. 電車が遅れています。
- I was late for school. 私は学校に遅刻しました。
- She worked late last night. 彼女は昨夜遅くまで働きました。
- Have you been busy lately? 最近忙しかったですか。
- I haven't seen Ken lately. 最近、ケンに会っていません。
- He has been late a lot lately. 彼は最近、よく遅刻しています。
よくある間違い
Japanese learners often mix up "late" and "lately." "I am busy lately" is not natural; say "I have been busy lately." Also, if you mean "not on time," use "late": "The train is late," not "The train is lately."
日本語の「最近」をそのまま現在形にして "I am busy lately" と言ってしまう誤りが多いです。ここは "I have been busy lately" が自然です。また、「遅い」「遅れている」の意味なら "lately" ではなく "late" を使います。"The train is late" が正しく、"The train is lately" とは言いません。