早い and 遅い: early, late and slow

The idea

For time, 早い contrasts with 遅い: 早く起きます means “get up early”, 遅く着きました means “arrived late”. For speed, 速い is the usual spelling for “fast”, and 遅い can mean “slow”. The adverbs 早く and 遅く modify verbs.

Examples

• 朝あさは早はやく起おきます。I get up early in the morning.
• 今日きょうは学校がっこうに遅おそく着つきました。I arrived late at school today.
• この電車でんしゃは速はやいです。This train is fast.
• 弟おとうとは歩あるくのが遅おそいです。My younger brother walks slowly.
• 明日あしたは早はやい時間じかんに出でます。I will leave at an early time tomorrow.
• もう遅おそいですから、帰かえります。It is already late, so I will go home.

Watch out

早い and 速い are both read はやい, but usually describe time and speed respectively. 遅い covers both “late” and “slow”; use the surrounding words to choose the meaning.

Try it yourself

1. Choose “early” for the time of getting up. 朝あさは＿＿起おきます。（早はやく／遅おそく）

   Show answer or example answer

   早く

   早く modifies 起きます to say that the action happens early.

2. Choose “late” for the time of arrival. 学校がっこうに＿＿着つきました。（早はやく／遅おそく）

   Show answer or example answer

   遅く

   遅く modifies 着きました to describe arriving late.

3. Choose “fast” for the train’s speed. この電車でんしゃは＿＿です。（速はやい／遅おそい）

   Show answer or example answer

   速い

   速い describes the train’s speed, not an early time.

Use it today

Say when you get up, when you arrived somewhere and whether a train is fast or slow.