遅刻 and 遅延: lateness and delays
Distinguish a person's late attendance from delays in transport or processing.
Being late for an arranged time
遅刻 (ちこく) means being late for school, work, or an appointment. 「授業に10分遅刻しました」 means arriving ten minutes late for class.
「遅刻しそうです」 predicts likely lateness. It differs from an established late arrival; what actually happened requires later context.
Running behind schedule
遅延 (ちえん) is a delay in transport, processing, or another scheduled process. 「電車が遅延しています」 says that the train is delayed.
「配送に遅延が発生しました」 says that a delivery delay occurred. It does not establish cancellation; delay and cancellation differ.
Linking cause and result
「電車の遅延で会議に遅刻しました」 means being late for a meeting because of a train delay. It distinguishes train operation from the person's attendance time.
「遅延があっても遅刻しませんでした」 means that despite a delay, the person was not late. A delay does not necessarily imply late attendance.
If the train was delayed but the person reached class on time, were they 遅刻?
Show the answer and why
No. There was a train delay, but no late arrival for class.