Yet is similar in meaning to but. But people also
say: not yet. This is confusing.
~Did
you receive the book?
~Not
yet.
Please
explain.
Roger
Woodham replies:
The
problem is that yet can be used as an adverb as well as a
co-ordinating conjunction. Let’s look at its function as a
conjunction first of all.
yet
as conjunction
You
are right, Viji. Yet is similar in meaning to but.
But is a
co-ordinating conjunction used to contrast two statements:
They
can speak Arabic but they can’t read or write it.
He
tried to book a holiday on Bali, but he didn’t have
enough money to pay for it.
We
use yet as the preferred alternative to but when we
want to emphasise that contrast to achieve a stronger effect:
She
can play the piano very well, yet she can’t read music
at all.
The
yachtsman had lost all sense of direction, yet he refused
to give up in his attempt to cross the Atlantic.
We
sometimes put and in front of yet when it is used
in this way or use even so as an alternative to yet
or and yet:
She
can play the piano very well, and yet she can’t read
music at all.
The
yachtsman had lost all sense of direction. Even so, he
refused to give up in his attempt to cross the Atlantic.
However
and nevertheless are sometimes used as more formal alternatives
to yet:
He
had no chance of winning the race or even of coming in the first
six. However, he kept going and crossed the finishing line
ahead of his team mates.
He
had not slept for three nights. Nevertheless, he insisted
on going into work the following day.
In
colloquial spoken English, mind you, but still or
still are sometimes used as less formal alternatives to yet:
The
weather was lousy. It rained every day. Still, we managed
to enjoy ourselves.
I
don’t like the work very much. Mind you, the people
I work with are very nice.
You
can be very annoying at times, but we still love
you.
yet
as adverb
When
yet is used as an adverb, it is used to talk about something
over a period of time, up till now:
Is
lunch ready yet?
Are
the Hunts back from their holiday yet?
It
is often used with the negative when you are saying that up to the
present time something has not happened. It is normally used with
present and perfect tenses, though in American English you will
sometimes hear it used with the past tense. Still can sometimes
be used as an alternative to yet. When we use still
in this way, it is emphatic. We are saying that we are very surprised
that it hasn’t happened. Compare the following:
Don’t
eat the plums. They’re not ripe yet. / They’re
still not ripe.
I
haven’t been to Wales or Scotland yet, though I’ve
visited England many times.
I
still haven’t been to Wales or Scotland, even though
I’ve visited England many times.
Did
you phone him yet? No, sorry. I forgot.
As
we can see from the above examples, yet is normally used
with negative sentences and in questions, but it is sometimes used
in affirmative sentences in a more formal style:
I
have yet to meet the man I wish to marry.
We
have yet to learn whether there will be any survivors from
the earthquake.
