Late means “after the usual or expected time”, while lately means “recently, over the last few weeks”, and it has nothing to do with being late. I got home late means I came home at a late hour, and I've been really busy lately means I've been busy recently.
late or lately — can you pick the right one?
Pick a word and write a sentence — we'll check right away that it fits the meaning and explain any mistakes.
The check is taking longer than usual. Your feedback will appear here automatically.
be late for + event; arrive/get home/work/stay up + late; late + evening/afternoon; have/has + been/done … + lately; the late + person (= no longer alive)
- Sorry I'm late, the bus broke down near the bridge.
- I've been reading a lot lately, mostly detective stories.
- We worked late on Friday to finish the presentation for the client.
What changed
First versionYesterday I came home lately because of the traffic.
RevisionYesterday I came home late because of the traffic.
Many English words add -ly when they describe how something is done: quick and quickly. So it seems that “at a late hour” should be lately. But late already works this way on its own: come home late. With lately, the sentence turns into “yesterday I recently came home” and stops making sense. Hard and hardly are the same trap.
Before a noun naming a person, late can mean “no longer alive”: her late husband is her husband who has died. It's a neutral and respectful word.
Your turn
I haven't seen Tom at the gym ___. Is he OK?
Show the answer
lately — The speaker hasn't seen Tom at the gym for a while, so the sentence is about the recent past: lately. Late would mean “after the usual time”, and the question about Tom would lose its meaning.
Describe how your routine has changed over the last few weeks. Use lately to say what has changed and late to say what you do at a late hour.
Lately I've been working from home, so I often stay up late watching TV series.
Learn to use new words without mistakes
Write phrases with the words you are learning. LetsWords shows mistakes in usage and grammar, suggests corrections and explains them, and review helps the words stick.