前段时间英语可以说是 "recently" 或者 "lately"。

"Recently" 源自于拉丁语中的 "reciens"，意思是 "new" 或者 "fresh"，引申为 "happening in the immediate past"。例如：

I recently read a fascinating book about the history of science.

She's been feeling much better recently.

"Lately" 源自于拉丁语中的 "late"，意思是 "recent" 或者 "not long ago"。例如：

Lately I've been thinking a lot about the future.

He's been working very hard lately.

这两个词都可以用来表示 "前段时间"，但是 "recently" 可能更常用，而 "lately" 可能更常用于正式的语境中。这两个词的用法也有一些细微的差别，例如 "recently" 可以用来指明一个具体的时间段，而 "lately" 则更常用来表示一个模糊的时间段。