Chinese word

最近

Pronunciation

Pinyinzuì jìn

Meaning

  • adverbrecently

Example

最近怎么样？zuì jìn zěn me yàng

How have you been lately?

Illustration for 最近 (recently)

More examples

最近学中文，进步很快。zuì jìn xué zhōng wén jìn bù hěn kuài

Recently, I have been studying Chinese and improving quickly.

Core concept

The area of the timeline nearest to today, including time that is still unfolding.

Common phrases

  • 最近学中文zuì jìn xué zhōng wén

    study Chinese recently

  • 最近有空zuì jìn yǒu kòng

    have time recently

Similar words

刚刚gāng gāng: Just a little while ago, referring to a completed action or event.
刚才gāng cái: Only moments ago, referring to something that happened at a particular recent time.
不久前bù jiǔ qián: Not long ago, referring to a time in the recent past.

Definition in Chinese

用来表示发生在靠近现在的一段时间内的动作或状态，既可以指过去不久，也可以指一直延续到现在的情况。yòng lái biǎo shì fā shēng zài kào jìn xiàn zài de yí duàn shí jiān nèi de dòng zuò huò zhuàng tài jì ké yǐ zhǐ guò qù bù jiǔ yě ké yǐ zhǐ yì zhí yán xù dào xiàn zài de qíng kuàng

Word origin

最近 (zuìjìn, "recently") joins 最 (zuì, "most") + 近 (jìn, "near"), creating the idea of the time nearest to the present.

Usage tips

  • Its time span is flexible: context may make it mean the last few days, weeks, or another recent period rather than a fixed number of days.

Opposites

Word lists with this word