摘要：It was only in later life that she began to exhibit her work.（直到晚年，她才开始展出自己的作品。） [剑桥高级学者辞典]

later life的含义是“晚年、晚年生活”，它与early life对称，后者含义是“早年、早年生活”。

在early life和later life之间可以有“青年、壮年和中年”。

late in life的late靠近life的结束端，也就是late in life比later life的年纪更大。

late in life通常指70岁之后，而later life是从50-60岁开始。

品读例句：

【例句1】He found happiness in later life. （老了之后，他找到了幸福。）[柯林斯高级学者辞典]

【例句2】In later life he started playing golf. （晚年，他开始打高尔夫球。）[牛津高级学者辞典]

【例句3】It was only in later life that she began to exhibit her work.（直到晚年，她才开始展出自己的作品。） [剑桥高级学者辞典]

【例句4】Poor diet can lead to a whole range of diseases in later life (=when you are older). （不良的饮食习惯会导致老了后患上一系列疾病。）[朗文当代英语词典]

【例句5】It was only later in life that she found happiness and peace of mind. (直到后来，她才找到了幸福和内心的平静)[剑桥高级学者辞典]

later在later life是形容词，两者合起来的短语名词做介词in的宾语。in later life在例句中作时间状语。

【例句6】His autobiography was written late in life. （他的自传是晚年写的。）[柯林斯高级学者辞典]

【例句7】She married late in life (=when she was fairly old). （她晚年结婚了。）[朗文当代英语词典]

【例句8】Brenda took up tennis late in life. （布伦达在晚年开始打网球。）[牛津高级学者辞典]

在这三个例句中，late是副词。介词短语后修饰副词late。late in life作为动作的时间状语。但deepseek说这里late应该按形容词来理解。

语法上，很少有副词被介词短语修饰的，所以若late理解成副词的话，则late和in life并行做动词两个状语(一个表达晚，一个表达动作的时间范围)，只是这样的语义上有点绕。

later life也可换成later years，其years是复数。如

【例句9】She found happiness in her later years. (她在晚年找到了幸福。)[牛津高级学者辞典]

【例句10】In his later years he wrote very little. （晚年，他很少写作。） [柯林斯高级学者辞典]

【例句11】During his later years, he lived in Cape Town. （晚年，他住在开普敦。） [牛津高级学者辞典]

【例句12】Using a sunscreen when you are young helps you to have healthy skin in later years. （年轻时使用防晒霜有助于你在晚年拥有健康的皮肤。）[朗文当代英语词典]

最后一句的later years前没有所有格，是因为这句话是对泛泛大众而言的，没必要强调所有者。【例句9,10,11】的years是复数，估计是它吸引了所有格。

来源：说丹丹一点号