In the morning, my wife asked me " Will you be late tonight?".
So I answered, "I am going to be late tonight."
If she asked me " Are you late tonight?", is that question right ?
Either gramatically or semantically, does that question sound natural ?
Is there any of native speakers who can explain the difference between these two?
I'd really appreciate it if someone would do that.
Best Answer
The correct phrase is:
One is not "late" until a certain time has passed, so it is incorrect to ask if someone is late in the present tense when speaking about a later time (tonight).
You could ask:
Using "to be" as an auxiliary verb allows for the different tense.