Meaning of 近来
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- recently
- lately
How to use 近来
近来 describes a period stretching from a little while ago up to now, so it often goes with ongoing states or repeated actions. It sounds a bit more formal or written than 最近 (zuìjìn). Example: 他近来很忙。(Tā jìnlái hěn máng.) He has been busy lately.
近 (jìn) means near and 来 (lái) means come. Things that have come to you from the near past are what happened 近来, recently.
Common mistake: Learners confuse 近来 (jìnlái, recently) with 进来 (jìnlái, to come in). They sound exactly the same, but 进 with the 井 inside means to enter, while 近 with 斤 inside means near. Also, 近来 is not used for the near future. Use it only for the recent past up to now.
近来 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
近 jìn · near · 7 strokes
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来 lái · to come · 7 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 近来.
| 回来 | huílái | to return; to come back |
| 起来 | qǐlái | to stand up; to get up; also pr. [qi3lai2] |
| 出来 | chūlái | to come out; to appear |
| 进来 | jìnlái | to come in |
| 来到 | láidào | to arrive; to come |
| 过来 | guòlái | to come over; to manage |
| 最近 | zuìjìn | recently; soon |
| 带来 | dàilái | to bring; (fig.) to bring about; to produce |
| 来自 | láizì | to come from (a place); From: (in email header) |
| 原来 | yuánlái | original; former; originally; formerly; at first |
| 后来 | hòulái | afterwards; later; newly arrived |
| 接下来 | jiē xiàlái | to accept; to take |
Questions about 近来
What does 近来 mean?
近来 (jìnlái) means "recently; lately" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 近来?
近来 is made of 2 characters: 近 (7 strokes), 来 (7 strokes). That is 14 strokes in total.
Is 近来 an HSK word?
Yes. 近来 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 近来 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 近来 is written 近來.
What is the difference between 近来 and 最近?
Both mean recently, but 最近 is more common in speech and can also refer to the near future, as in 最近几天 (the next few days). 近来 only covers the recent past up to now and feels more written.
Where does 近来 go in a sentence?
It usually comes before the verb or adjective, either after the subject or at the start of the sentence. For example, 近来天气很冷 (jìnlái tiānqì hěn lěng) means the weather has been cold lately.