近來(lái)，最近(recently;not long ago)：What have you been doing～? 你近來(lái)一直在做什么? I haven't been to the theater much～. 我最近不常到戲院去看戲。It's only～that the matter has become known. 此事最近才為人知曉。I saw him as～as yesterday. 我昨天還見(jiàn)到他了。
【辨異】lately與not long ago和recently所指的行為都發(fā)生在最近的過(guò)去。lately 通常用于疑問(wèn)句和否定句，在肯定句中通常與 only、much 和 a lot 連用。句中的動(dòng)詞須用現(xiàn)在完成時(shí)(見(jiàn)上面的例句)。not long ago(不久前)僅用于肯定陳述句，與過(guò)去時(shí)動(dòng)詞連用，如：He got married not long ago.(他不久前結(jié)婚了。)recently(最近)用得最廣，可用于各種句式，可同過(guò)去時(shí)和現(xiàn)在完成時(shí)動(dòng)詞連用，如：The bank recently opened a branch in Beijing.(這家銀行最近在北京開(kāi)了一家支行。)Historians have begun to investigate the question only recently.(歷史學(xué)家們最近才開(kāi)始調(diào)查這個(gè)問(wèn)題。)