hi guys i'm arnell
and today we're going to look at four
common words
that english students can often confuse
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if we want to understand how to use
these words
we need to look at four things
the definition when we use these words
in positive statements negatives
questions
the position in a sentence
and the difference between american
english
and british english
at the end of this lesson i'm going to
use all four of these in one situation
so you can really see the difference
and remember these words can have many
different definitions and uses
but today we're specifically focusing on
them
in terms of time
so let's begin with still
still we use still to emphasize that an
action is continuing
it's ongoing for example
now it's raining you can see this on my
timeline
now it's raining
it's still raining you can really see
i'm
emphasizing that something is continuing
and we often use still
because this action this continuation
is surprising
my brother still lives with my parents
of course this sentence is perfectly
correct if you remove
still my brother lives with my parents
but still gives you that emphasis my
brother still lives with my parents
he's 38. i work from home
because of kovid but i can still go into
the office
if i need to
i am still sick i've been sick for two
weeks i am still sick
okay you can see all these examples are
in the present
but you can also use still in the past
and in the future
past i woke up at 8 am
and it was still dark out it continued
to be dark
my parents divorced when i was seven but
they still had a good relationship
their good relationship continued
future when you wake up
it will still be dark out it will
continue to be dark
in two minutes you will still be
watching this video
hopefully okay we need to look at the
position of still
in detail why is a position so important
still is an adverb just like already
yet and just you know in english
adverbs can go in lots of different
places the good news is
learning about the position of still
will make learning about the position
of these other words so much easier so
let's take a look
still still can go in the middle
position
often just called mid position the
middle position can be
before the main verb after the auxiliary
verb
and before the main verb like a sandwich
after b
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okay let's look at this with examples
from earlier
my brother lives with my parents i have
my main verb
my only verb lives and before that i add
still my brother still lives with my
parents
i can go into the office if i need to i
have my main verb go
and my auxiliary verb can still in the
middle
like a sandwich i can still go into the
office if i need to
i'm sick i have my b form and still goes
after it
i'm still sick remember the b forms
these are the b forms you need to look
out for
these rules are the same for questions
does your girlfriend still go to salsa
classes
auxiliary main verb are you still here
after b so we have the three positions
but things change a little bit in the
negative
i don't know how to use chopsticks
peter hasn't chosen what he wants from
the menu
we can't visit our relatives we know
these sentences are negative
because we have not and of course i have
contracted them
because that's natural main verb
auxiliary
aha sandwich time
now sorry in the negative put still
before the auxiliaries
i still don't know how to use chopsticks
peter still hasn't chosen what he wants
from the menu
we still can't visit our relatives
lots of information here but we are
going to look at these positions again
in the lesson
and learning them now will make later on
much easier
already you are surprised
because something happened before you
expected it to happen
earlier than expected or before
something else
what your son is already five years old
oh my goodness time flies i felt like
i saw him yesterday and he was this
little little baby but no your son is
already five years old
this is sooner than i expected i'm a
little bit surprised
it's only january and the snow is
already melting
normally where i live the snow doesn't
melt until march
april but it's january the snow is
already melting
sooner than i expected
would you like a tea or coffee no thank
you i already had one
before now okay
i have two examples in the present one
in the past
yes you can also use already in the
future why not
when you arrive in san francisco chloe
and alice will already be there
you can meet them in the hotel they'll
be there
before you and look at those positions
we've already talked about this
before the main verb
are you hungry because here's a sandwich
between the auxiliary
and the main verb and after
b with already
the end position is also perfectly
correct
when we put already at the end of our
sentence or at the end of the clause
it's a little bit more um informal it's
more
casual and more emphatic actually
what your son is five years old already
it's only january and the snow is
melting already
would you like a tea or coffee no thank
you i had one
already and when you arrive in san
francisco
alice and chloe will be there already
and with already the position and
negatives and questions
doesn't change which is great let's take
a moment to look at
this example here
would you like a tea or coffee no thank
you i already had one
past simple you can also say i've i have
i've already had one present perfect
today's lesson is not about the past
simple or the present perfect
but i need to tell you one difference
between american english and
british english generally
americans tend to use the past simple
with already
just and yet speakers of british english
tend to use the present perfect
so this isn't a um straight a
grammatical rule
it's a preference so you are both um
and it's it's just good to know
just we use just for something that
happened
right before now or right before
something else
rachel has just called and she left you
a message rachel has just called
rachel just called both are fine
here rachel has just called rachel just
called
this is probably one minute ago it's
very recent isn't it
did you get a chance to go to the um
wildlife photography exhibition
i was just there i went during my lunch
break yeah it was amazing
i was just there this is probably 20
minutes ago
have you seen vic anywhere um he should
be in his office i was just talking to
him
i was just talking to him five minutes
ago
okay here we have 20 minutes ago five
minutes ago one minute ago
this is very recent but recent is
relative right
i could say we just bought a house
and this could be two months ago but
that's
pretty recent in terms of buying a house
you just saw a ghost and once again we
have that mid position
before the main verb between the
auxiliary and the main verb after
be so let's compare
still already and just before we move on
to yet
hey do you feel like meeting up later
cafe
sorry not today i'm still working on my
essay
i thought you already finished it now to
be honest i just started
still i'm continuing to work on my essay
already something is finished before now
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just very recently i started 10 minutes
ago
and yes we can put already at the end i
thought you finished it already
yet we are waiting for something to
happen
we are expecting something we use yet in
negatives
and questions why because an
action hasn't happened we are either
waiting for the action or we are asking
about the action i'm hungry
i haven't eaten breakfast yet but i'm
going to eat breakfast i will eat
breakfast
soon you can't go to the supermarket now
it's not open yet it's only 7 a.m
but it will open it will open soon
we're expecting it to open of course
has the meeting started yet i'm
expecting a meeting so i'm asking if it
started
or not i don't know why zoe was
complaining about the new intern
she hadn't even met him yet
the good thing about yet is the position
it's at the end of your clause at the
end of your sentence
that makes things pretty simple
of course you can remove yet from all of
these
and they're perfectly correct but once
again
yet gives you that little emphasis that
you're expecting something
let's compare i haven't seen that movie
i haven't seen that movie yet
the first example is just general
information i haven't seen that movie
have you seen that movie is it any good
in the second example the speaker
is going to watch the movie they're
expecting to watch the movie but they
just haven't done it
yet have you signed phil's birthday card
no i haven't signed it no i haven't
signed it yet
the second example is a lot more natural
because in the second example
the speaker is gonna sign it they will
sign it when when they have some free
time
the first example is a little bit
unnatural
and it's missing something have you
signed phil's birthday card
no i haven't signed it
any other questions okay
so we know now we use yet in negatives
and questions
at that end position but
you probably or you might have seen yet
used in a positive sentence
for example we can use this structure
have
yet to has yet to plus infinitive
this also means you're expecting
something you're waiting for something
for example the stolen jewels have yet
to be recovered
the judges have yet to announce a winner
you can see here we have yet it's not at
the end
and there's no negative there's no
question it's a positive statement which
is perfectly correct
so you can use yet in this type of
structure and there are other
other variations but this isn't
very common and it's it's quite formal
so i really do suggest keep yet for
those negatives
and questions at the end
of your sentence
amazing let's look at all four of these
words
in one in one situation so you can
really compare the difference and see
how
how necessary they are
my boss and his wife are coming over to
my house
for dinner they're not here yet but
they'll be here in about
30 minutes and actually i'm really
nervous
so the um i already made
the potatoes and the salad the fish
is still in the oven the fish is still
baking
and i just remembered i didn't buy any
drinks i don't have any drinks
so here we can see yet
in the negative i'm expecting my boss
and his wife
to to be at my house soon i'm expecting
this
already something is done it's finished
before now
i already made the potatoes i already
made the salad
still ongoing the fish is still in the
oven it's still
baking just i just remembered
one moment ago
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bye