hi everybody my name is Alisha today I'm
going to talk about two words yet and already and the difference between the
two I'm also going to explain some nuances of a few question patterns you
might hear these words used in so let's get started first let's look at the word
yet yet we use the word yet for actions that we expect to occur something we
think is probably going to happen we have an expectation for this action this
can mean like daily activities like taking a shower brushing your teeth it
can mean something at work like sending a file or attending a meeting so
depending on your situation this is just a specific action that is expected to
occur we use yet for actions that have not happened when we're making
statements for example I haven't done my homework yet
I haven't done my homework yet here we see yet at the end of this sentence we
also use yet in questions about the action so meaning is it finished
is it not finished has it been completed has it not been completed for example
have you done your homework yet yet you'll notice that we're using the
present perfect I haven't done my homework have you done your homework yet
we use yet because of this expectation meaning up until now up until this point
in time has the action been completed this is the reason we use haven't and
have in the in the case of these example sentences so remember yet is for an
action that has not happened but we expect will happen it falls at the end
of a sentence you'll notice here yet comes at the end of both of these
sentences if you see it in a different location like for example before the
verb it's increasingly rare in modern American English but you might see it in
older texts specifically it's going to sound formal and quite out of date if
you use this now so please use yet at the end of
your sentence okay let's move on to already already we use already again
like with yet for an action which we expect to occur some action that is
expected to occur this word however is used for an action that has happened so
when we're making statements this is for an action that has happened for example
I've already done my homework I've already done my homework here's the
positive sentence I use the negative I haven't done my homework yet here here
I've used I've already done my homework for questions about the action whether
the action has been completed or not we can also use already for example have
you already done your homework have you already done your homework here I used
yet have you done your homework yet so you'll see yet falls at the end of
the sentence but already comes before the verb so I've already done my
homework have you already done your homework already comes before the verb
you can use already at the end of a sentence although have you already done
your homework can be come have you done your homework already both are fine so
it's up to you to choose now knowing this basic information about when to use
yet and already let's look at a few sentences that use these words and some
which do not and take a look at the difference in nuance so these are
actually all questions these are all questions fairly common questions but
there are some subtle differences some small differences in nuance that I think
it's important to be aware of let's look at the first one here have you eaten
lunch yet this is a confirmation question is the
action finished or not have you eaten lunch yet here we see yet
at the end of the sentence the nuance here like I said it's a confirmation
question yes or no is the action finished or not finished in this case
the speaker thinks the listener has not completed the action or the speaker
imagines the listener there's a there's a chance the listener has not in this
case eaten lunch they imagine this it's a guess though
that's why it's a question it's in the question form have you eaten lunch yet
let's look at a similar sentence though have you already eaten lunch or have you
eaten lunch already here again it's a confirmation question but the speaker is
using already so the speaker guesses maybe the listener has completed the
action the action is maybe finished so there's a very small difference between
these two in this case maybe the speaker wants to invite the listener for lunch
or the speaker wants to ask something of the listener here however the speaker is
guessing that lunch is finished for the listener so maybe it's a it's a
different situation so there's a small difference in nuance between these two
let's look at a slightly different pair you've already eaten lunch versus you
haven't eaten lunch yet I've finished these sentences with the very casual
punctuation mark a question mark and an exclamation point this is just to
emphasize surprise so you shouldn't use to punctuation marks in your formal
writing but for this exercise I included it so here you've already eaten lunch
and you haven't eaten lunch yet these two are used to express surprise so here
this is not a confirmation question it begins with you've you've already
these are questions which express surprise or a disbelief so in this case
surprise because the action happened sooner than expected
so someone eats lunch at maybe 10:30 10:30 in the morning for example the
speaker says you've already eaten lunch the action happened sooner than expected
by the speaker in this case let's look here though the opposite you haven't
eaten lunch yet here the there's the same element of surprise that's being
communicated but there's an expectation the action is going to happen the
speaker is surprised actually that the listener has not completed the action
yet the surprise is because the action is not finished has not been completed
but there's an expectation the action is going to happen
the future so for example it's I don't know four o'clock in the afternoon and
the speaker says you haven't eaten lunch yet so you imagine as the speaker the
listener is going to eat lunch but you're surprised the listener has not
eaten okay and let's look at a couple of different grammar points here
you haven't eaten lunch you haven't eaten lunch here this is almost
identical to the previous sentence the only difference is the word yet is
missing there's no yet here just you haven't eaten lunch this is just a
simple expression of surprise so there's still a chance we see this this nuance
is communicated through the present perfect ants
you haven't eaten lunch so meaning up until this point in time you didn't or
you haven't eaten lunch you don't have the experience yet so it sounds like
there's still a chance here but yet is not included so maybe that emphasis of
expectation is missing in this sentence this is just a very simple kind of basic
way to confirm finally let's change this from present perfect here to simple past
you didn't eat lunch you didn't eat lunch here did not so
this is still expressing surprise we still see this you didn't do something
with the emphasis marks at the end this expresses surprise but there's no chance
no chance so remember didn't didn't simple past
tense meaning the action started and ended in the past this implies that the
speaker did not eat lunch and now there is no chance for the speaker to eat
lunch maybe it's 8 o'clock at night for
example there's no more a feasible period of time for lunch lunch is
finished so you didn't eat lunch simple past no chance for lunch to happen so
these are very similar questions and you might hear any one of these at work or
when meeting a friend but there are some very subtle differences in nuance here
so keep these in mind when you're using and when you're listening for yet and
already I hope this lesson was useful for you if you have any questions or
comments or if you want to try to make a sentence feel free feel free in the com
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thanks very much for watching this episode on yet and already and I'll see
you again soon bye bye