ENGLISH
REFERENCE

in recent years

prep. phr..
B1 Intermediate Oxford

prep. phr.. during the last few years up until now.

prep. phr.. a temporal prepositional phrase indicating a period of time extending from the recent past to the present moment.


SIMPLE

In recent years, many people have started working from home.

CONTEXTUAL

The city has changed significantly in recent years due to the new technology hub.

COMPLEX

In recent years, researchers have observed a marked increase in global temperatures, leading to more frequent extreme weather events.

Usage

usually placed at the beginning or end of a sentence and often used with the present perfect tense.

Teaching tip

use this to help students transition from the simple past to the present perfect; it anchors the time frame in a way that connects the past to 'now'.

Pitfall

In the recent years, technology improved.In recent years, technology has improved.the definite article 'the' is usually omitted in this fixed phrase, and the present perfect is preferred for ongoing trends.

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