I have been little lazy since recently.

Question

Do the both sentences mean the same?1: I have been little lazy since recently.2: I have been little lazy lately.

OHIO · Accepted Answer

i think it's the same

Inchoateknowledge · Answer

recently: during a http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/recent period of time -- during, duration, period
since is followed by a point in time

These two ideas seem to conflict.

I am sure the first sentence is nonsense. Besides, an 'a' is missing from both sentences.

I have been a little lazy recently. -- "Recently" already carries the idea of a time period that is in progress since the not too distant past.
I have been a little lazy lately. -- OK

One more thing, moi dorogoi druzia:

In your signature I read something I find not quite right. Syntax and punctuation are subsets of grammar.

Kooyeen · Answer

Hi,
I don't agree with Incho that "recently" only refers to "duration" and so it doesn't go with "since" that requires a point in time. In fact, "recently" can refer to a point in time, and that's maybe its most common use:
I recently broke my leg. I can't play. (recently = a short time ago)
This is clearer if you think of the expression "until recently"...
I didn't know anything about it until recently.
So "since recently" seems to make sense, but... if you google it, you'll get this thread among the first results, and that's generally a VERY BAD sign when googling, LOL. So I guess it's just unidiomatic, and native speakers just use "lately" instead.

Yankee · Answer

Hi Jackson

You can say these:

1. I have been a little lazy recently.
2. I have been a little lazy lately.

In my opinion, "since recently" is quite awkward in sentence 1. You can use the word "since" to refer back to a specific past point in time (or a specific past event) in order to look at the time from then until now.

You can say "since Monday", "since two o'clock", "since last year", "since that time", "since I was hired", "since doing something", for example.

Inchoateknowledge · Answer

Hi

Let me put it in a different way:

I HAVE BEEN lazy... -- the choice of tense demands a period of time, like "since yesterday", "since the exam period is over", etc.
"Recently" fits the bill perfectly because it 'means duration in such an environment.

I BROKE my leg -- simple past - the happening is a point in time, so the temporal element should be chosen accordingly.
I broke my leg yesterday, last month, when you came in, recently, etc.
I broke my leg since... is no go because the idea of since and the choice of tense are at daggers.

I have been little lazy since recently.

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