Lately vs Recently (I saw her as recently as last Sunday)

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

All these sentences are correct?

  1. I saw her as lately as last Sunday.
  2. I saw her as recently as last Sunday.

What is more usual?
Thanks
K

2

.
I vote for recently.
.

3

Could you please tell me if the these sentences mean:

It was last Sunday that I last saw her.

And, if they are same in meaning, which one is more appropriate?

Tom

4

Hi Tom

Like Mr. Mic, I prefer the sentence with the word recently. Saying “as recently as” is much more common than saying “as lately as”.

Yes, your sentence has the same basic meaning. But, by saying “as recently as”, the fact that it wasn’t at all long ago is stressed.

Amy

5

Thank you, Amy

Last question regarding this thread:

If we try to turn the same sentences into interrogative sense, how would we? I can only turn my sentence :smiley: …but, it does not mean that I have any bias towards Khaan’s sentences :o .

1- When did you see her last?
Ans: It was this Sunday that I saw her last/ I saw her as recently as this Sunday. (Amy, do we agree here?)

Or, yes, maybe there is only one interrogative sentence possible; and that I have written here. Your comments, please!

6

Hi Tom

I feel uncomfortable saying “this Sunday” when referring to the past — probably because “this” also refers to the future. An alternative is: “this past Sunday”
(To refer to the future, you can say “this coming Sunday”.)

Whether a sentence is affirmative, negative or interrogative is normally not a problem when using the word recently.

However, in my opinion, using the word lately can get tricky — especially in affirmative sentences that refer to one specific past action or event. For example:

“The boss fired Jack recently.” This sentence is fine and means the same thing as “The boss fired Jack a short time ago.”

– BUT —

“The boss fired Jack lately.” / “The boss has fired Jack lately.”
Both of these sentences sound [color=red]wrong to me. Technically speaking, it might not be wrong, but it feels wrong. It sounds too specific for the use of lately.

However, the following sentence sounds grammatically fine to me:
“The boss has fired a lot of people lately.” 8)

The difference between this sentence and the previous two is that this last sentence refers to a group of recent events that happened over a period of time (rather than to one specific past event at one specific time).

Amy