Using “Nowadays” vs “Recently”

Students often struggle to use “recently” and “nowadays” properly in their TOEFL essays.  Here’s a quick guide on recommended usage.

The Basics

Use “nowadays” to talk about the state of the world, as in: “Nowadays, a lot of people choose to attend university.”

Use “recently” to talk about a specific event which happened in the recent past, as in: “My husband recently decided to study Spanish.”

Word Placement

Both are adverbs. “Recently” looks fine at the beginning or end of a sentence. It can also be used in the middle (right beside the verb).  As in:

• “Recently, my husband decided to study Spanish.”
• “My husband recently decided to study Spanish.”
• “My husband decided to study Spanish recently.”

Note the comma in the first sentence.

“Nowadays” is usually best at the beginning or end of a sentence. As in:

• “Nowadays, a lot of people choose to attend university.”
• “A lot of people choose to attend university nowadays.”

Using it in the middle of a sentence is a bit trickier, but it is possible if you use parenthetical commas before and after it, as in:

• “A lot people, nowadays, choose to attend university.”