late | soon (end position)

A1, adjuncts, ADVERBS, end, FUTURE, position, time

“Late” and “soon” are both adverbs of time that can be used in the usual end position in a sentence.

  • “Late” is used to describe something that happens after the expected, usual or planned time. For example, “He arrived late for the meeting.” In this sentence, “late” tells us when he arrived for the meeting.
  • “Soon” is used to describe something that will happen in a short time from now, or a short time after the moment of speaking. For example, “I will see you soon.” In this sentence, “soon” tells us when I will see you.

These adverbs provide information about the timing of an action, and placing them at the end of a sentence is a common practice in English.

In the English Grammar Profile, A1 point 15 in the category of ADVERBS is defined:

time adverbs in the usual end position.

The EGP only lists ‘soon’ and ‘late’ as examples for this point.  However, this point overlaps ‘adjuncts’ in time expressions at A1:

A2 increasing range of adverbs:

B2 past simple + range of time adjuncts:

STUDENT EXAMPLE:

They always went back late.

PELIC Chinese male level 3 writing class.

A search in iWeb corpus for:

* _VV * soon .

1 TO SEE YOU SOON. 612

Anyway thanks for thinking of me and I hope to see you soon.

listen

2 TO CHANGE ANYTIME SOON. 520
3 YOU FEEL BETTER SOON. 517
4 TO HAPPEN ANYTIME SOON. 368
5 TO SEEING YOU SOON. 350
6 . SEE YOU SOON. 341
7 IS COMING UP SOON. 221
8 TO STOP ANYTIME SOON. 220
9 I SPOKE TOO SOON. 196
10 PLEASE CHECK BACK SOON. 184

For results 11-50, we had AI group our data as follows:

The corpus results can be regrouped into the following categories:

  1. Expressions of Future Contact
    • “WILL CONTACT YOU SOON.”
    • “’LL SEE YOU SOON.”
    • “TO MEETING YOU SOON.”
    • “AND SEE YOU SOON.”
    • “WILL SEE YOU SOON.”
    • “, SEE YOU SOON.”
    • “ILL SEE YOU SOON.”
  2. Statements about Upcoming Events or Changes
    • “BE COMING OUT SOON.”
    • “IS COMING VERY SOON.”
    • “TO END ANYTIME SOON.”
    • “BE RELEASED VERY SOON.”
    • “WILL CHANGE ANYTIME SOON.”
    • “BE ANNOUNCED VERY SOON.”
    • “BE COMING VERY SOON.”
    • “BE MADE AVAILABLE SOON.”
    • “WILL HAPPEN ANYTIME SOON.”
    • “BE HAPPENING ANYTIME SOON.”
    • “BE COMING UP SOON.”
    • “WILL COME OUT SOON.”
  3. Expressions of Hope or Anticipation
    • “. GET WELL SOON.”
    • “TO TRY IT SOON.”
    • “TO COME BACK SOON.”
    • “’LL FIND OUT SOON.”
    • “WILL FIND OUT SOON.”
    • “TO DISAPPEAR ANYTIME SOON.”
    • “SO CHECK BACK SOON.”
    • “YOU GET BETTER SOON.”
    • “WILL GET BETTER SOON.”
  4. Statements about Continuity or Persistence
    • “NOT GOING ANYWHERE SOON.”
    • “OF STOPPING ANYTIME SOON.”
    • “N’T GOING ANYWHERE SOON.”
  5. Expressions of Intent to Repeat an Action
    • “BE ORDERING AGAIN SOON.”
    • “TO GO BACK SOON.”
    • “BE ORDERING MORE SOON.”

Here are AI example sentences for each category:

  1. Expressions of Future Contact
    • “I will contact you soon to discuss the project details.”
    • “I’ll see you soon at the conference.”
    • “I’m looking forward to meeting you soon.”
    • “Goodbye and see you soon.”
    • “I will see you soon at the reunion.”
    • “Take care, see you soon.”
    • “I’ll see you soon at the party.”
  2. Statements about Upcoming Events or Changes
    • “The new product will be coming out soon.”
    • “The results of the experiment are coming very soon.”
    • “The sale is expected to end anytime soon.”
    • “The new version of the software will be released very soon.”
    • “The weather will change anytime soon according to the forecast.”
    • “The date for the event will be announced very soon.”
    • “The new update will be coming very soon.”
    • “The new collection will be made available soon.”
    • “A decision on the matter will happen anytime soon.”
    • “The construction of the new building will be happening anytime soon.”
    • “Our annual event will be coming up soon.”
    • “The new book by the famous author will come out soon.”
  3. Expressions of Hope or Anticipation
    • “. Get well soon, we miss you at work.”
    • “I hope to try it soon when I visit the new restaurant.”
    • “I hope to come back soon to this beautiful city.”
    • “We’ll find out soon who won the competition.”
    • “You will find out soon about your application status.”
    • “I don’t expect the noise to disappear anytime soon.”
  4. Statements about Continuity or Persistence
    • “He’s not going anywhere soon, he just started his project here.”
    • “There’s no sign of stopping anytime soon as the rain continues to pour.”
  5. Expressions of Intent to Repeat an Action
    • “I was satisfied with my purchase and will be ordering again soon.”
    • “I had a great time and plan to go back soon.”
    • “I loved their new collection and will be ordering more soon.”

* _VV * late .

We gave all our corpus results to AI to regroup:

  1. Staying Up Late
    • “TO STAY UP LATE.”
    • “AND STAY UP LATE.”
    • “AND STAYING UP LATE.”
    • “OR STAY UP LATE.”
    • “I STAY UP LATE.”
    • “AND STAYED UP LATE.”
  2. Coming Late
    • “HAD COME TOO LATE.”
    • “IT CAME TOO LATE.”
    • “HAVE COME TOO LATE.”
    • “MAY COME TOO LATE.”
    • “WILL COME TOO LATE.”
    • “, CAME TOO LATE.”
    • “HE ARRIVED TOO LATE.”
  3. Staying Out Late
    • “TO STAY OUT LATE.”
    • “AND STAY OUT LATE.”
    • “AND STAYING OUT LATE.”
  4. Waking Up Late
    • “I WOKE UP LATE.”
    • “TO WAKE UP LATE.”
  5. Coming Home Late
    • “AND CAME HOME LATE.”
    • “YOU COME HOME LATE.”
    • “AND COMING HOME LATE.”

Here are examples of each group:

  1. Staying Up Late: “I often stay up late to finish my work.”
  2. Coming Late: “She had come too late to see the beginning of the movie.”
  3. Staying Out Late: “They like to stay out late and enjoy the city nightlife.”
  4. Waking Up Late: “On weekends, I usually wake up late.”
  5. Coming Home Late: “He came home late from the party last night.”
  6. Other Expressions: “The changes in the policy have come a bit too late.”