In the sentence "They are always late to the ball game.", what part of speech is "always" and "late"?

always should be an adverb...describing what the action is which is the verb "late". Try that, it "should" be correct.

Yes, "always" and "late" are adverbs.

http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent/hypergrammar/partsp.html

In the sentence "They are always late to the ball game," "always" is an adverb and "late" is an adjective.

To identify the part of speech of a word, you can follow these steps:

1. First, identify the word in question within the sentence.
2. Determine the word's function and how it modifies or relates to other words in the sentence.
3. Consult a dictionary or grammar resource for confirmation.

In this case:

1. "Always" modifies the verb "late," which describes when "they" arrive at the ball game.
2. "Always" tells us how often they are late, making it an adverb. Adverbs typically modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs and describe when, where, why, how, or to what extent something happens.
3. Consulting a dictionary will confirm that "always" is indeed an adverb.

Similarly, "late" modifies the noun "they," describing the timing of their arrival. We can determine it is an adjective because adjectives describe or modify nouns or pronouns by giving more information about them.

Remember that context is essential in identifying parts of speech, as a word can have different functions in various sentences.