Already / Yet
Happening sooner or later than expected
Present Perfect — Positive / Negative
| ALREADY | YET |
|---|---|
Action or activity occurred earlier than expected. |
Action or activity occurred later than expected. |
The bus has already been here. (It came early and left.) |
The bus hasn't come yet. (It's late and I am still waiting.) |
The others have left already.(They came early and left.) |
The others haven't left yet. (We expected them to leave by now.) |
Sentence Types
| STATEMENT | NEGATIVE | QUESTION |
|---|---|---|
A positive statement with already places emphasis on early completion of an activity or event. It may also express pride. |
A negative statement with yet places emphasis on late completion of an activity or event. It may also express regret. |
A question with already expresses optimism that work might be completed early. A question with yet expresses pessimism that work might be completed late. |
We have already finished the work. We have finished the work already. |
We haven't finished the work already. (incorrect) |
Have you finished the work already? (I think you have.) |
We have finished the work yet. (incorrect) |
We haven't yet finished the work. We haven't finished the work yet. |
Have you finished the work yet? (I don't think you have.) |
optimism (n) – a tendency to believe that good things will always happen
pessimism (n) – a tendency to believe that bad things will always happen
Sentence Position – already / yet
| MEDIAL | FINAL |
|---|---|
We have already finished the work. alternate word order |
We have finished the work already. alternate word order |
We haven't yet finished the work. alternate word order |
We haven't finished the work yet. common word order |
Practice
Expecting a Baby
- Select the word from each menu that best completes the sentence.
- Compare your response to the answer by clicking the "check" button to the right.