Conversation started Jul 12, 2015 at 21:54.
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
Jul 12, 2015 21:54
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englishpage.com/verbpage/presentperfectcontinuous.html
> USE 2 Recently, Lately
> You can also use the Present Perfect Continuous WITHOUT a duration such as "for two weeks." Without the duration, the tense has a more general meaning of "lately." We often use the words "lately" or "recently" to emphasize this meaning.
> Examples:
- Recently, I have been feeling really tired.
- She has been watching too much television lately.
- Have you been exercising lately?
...
> IMPORTANT
> Remember that the Present Perfect Continuous has the meaning of "lately" or "recently." If you use the Present Perfect Continuous in a question such as "Have you been feeling alright?", it can suggest that the person looks sick or unhealthy. A question such as "Have you been smoking?" can suggest that you smell the smoke on the person.
> Using this tense in a question suggests you can see, smell, hear or feel the results of the action. It is possible to insult someone by using this tense incorrectly.
I think the explanation is mostly correct,
but it could be misleading on a few points.
For one thing, it seems to imply that with lately or recently, we should use the present perfect continuous (progressive).
(There is no mentioning of lately or recently on the page for the simple past.)
Another thing is they seem to treat lately and recently as two words with the same meaning.
(Of course, I don't think they really think so, but it's quite possible, imho, that the reader who is a learner will read it that way.)
 
3 hours later…
Anonymous
Jul 13, 2015 01:08
> Thank you so much for continuing to educate us about the dangers of plastic additive BPA, especially No. 7 plastic "Dangerously Hard," Spring 2009. Recently I was shocked to discover that the "pure" drinking water provided in many workplaces (including my own) in large inverted water coolers are all in No. 7 plastic.
Anonymous
> Recently I was on a flight to Thailand. My daughter, Billie, and I were flying direct from L.A. to Bangkok.
Anonymous
> Recently I went to the Williams-Sonoma flagship store here in New York City to try out some wonderful recipes. Fresh herbs, as you know, can be great in pastas and salads. But they can do so much more, and there's so much available this time of year, as cookbook author Tori Ritchie is here to tell us.
Anonymous
> There were too many chinks in her armor, and lately it seemed as if God had decided to test each and every one.
Anonymous
> His blue eyes seemed familiar, but she couldn't place them. She'd never been good at placing faces with names, but lately she found herself with people she knew well, and yet it wasn't just their names that seemed to have vanished from her mind, but any clue that could help her identify them: a distant cousin, a neighborhood shopkeeper, a friend of a friend, a patient, a colleague? She had learned to fake it so that people wouldn't feel offended or embarrassed that she had no memory [...]
Anonymous
All from COCA. I was searching for lately * [vvd] and recently * [vvd]
Anonymous
Jul 13, 2015 01:15
Although it's harder to find examples of lately that way because it tends to occur later in the sentence
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
@snailboat It's interesting that one result has Bangkok in the sentence. :-)
But that's what I think. I think the simple past should be possible with both recently and lately.
I'm not very sure about the simple present. I think it's less likelier, and probably marginal.
Also, I'm still unsure about the difference between recently and lately. My original idea was that recently should be more compatible with the simple past, and lately should be more compatible with the present perfect, but both should work with both the simple past and the present perfect.
Anonymous
It may be less likely, but I don't think there's a problem with it. I'll invent a pair of examples:
Anonymous
> 1. Recently I find that the answers on this site are excellent.
Anonymous
> 2. I think the answers are terrible on this site lately.
Anonymous
I don't think recently and lately have any general restrictions on what tense or aspectual forms they co-occur with.
 
Conversation ended Jul 13, 2015 at 1:29.