# already / yet



## acuario

Hi,
Anybody can explain me the difference between already and yet, and when can you use one or the other ??

Thanks
acuario  

Moderator's note: several threads have been merged to create this one.


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## prismaia

Already:
suele usarse con el present perfect en oraciones afirmativas e interrogativas:
I've already been in London
Have you already been in London?

Yet:
Suele usarse con el present perfect tambien pero en oraciones negativas:
I haven't been in London yet

I hope I'd been helpful to you


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## co0zrg

"Have you eaten yet?" 

What is the most common way to say this?
"Has comido ya?"
"Ya has comido?"
"Ya comiste?"
"comiste ya?"


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## prismaia

"Has comido ya?"
"Ya has comido?"
"Ya comiste?"
"comiste ya?"

All of them make sense for me, but I think first and second mean nearly past, and the lasts mean something that have already finished but not as nearly


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## lasirena

prismaia said:
			
		

> Already:
> suele usarse con el present perfect en oraciones afirmativas e interrogativas:
> I've already been IN London
> Have you already been IN London?
> 
> 
> I haven't been IN London yet



con respecto a los lugares, se usa la preposición "to".

Have you already been to London?
I haven´t been to London yet.
I´ve never been to Asia/Missouri/Sicily/cualquier lugar específico.


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## prismaia

lasirena said:
			
		

> con respecto a los lugares, se usa la preposición "to".
> 
> Have you already been to London?
> I haven´t been to London yet.
> I´ve never been to Asia/Missouri/Sicily/cualquier lugar específico.


Thanks a milliom


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## Vida

acuario said:
			
		

> Hi,
> Anybody can explain me the difference between already and yet, and when can you use one or the other ??
> 
> thanks
> acuario


 
Hi! 
Already and yet are adverb both.

1. Idea of already: something happended before now, before this time.
Position: midsentence. Already is used in affirmative sentences. 

Example: I am not hungry. I have already eaten lunch. 

2. Idea of yet: Something did not happen before now (up to this moment), but it may happen in the future. 
Position: end of sentence. Yet is used in negative sentences.

Example: I am hungry. I have not eaten lunch yet.

I hope that it explanation to be enough for you.

Thanks!


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## Swettenham

En muchas declaraciones, "already" es afirmativo y "yet" es negativo:

"I have already eaten." Ya he comido.
"I haven't eaten yet." No he comido todavía.  Se dice también "I still haven't eaten" en sentido similar.

"No tenemos que más esperar.  Ya está aquí!"
"We don't have to wait any longer.  He's already here!"

"Tenemos que más esperar.  Todavía no está aquí."
"We have to wait longer.  He isn't here yet." o "He still isn't here."

En preguntas, "yet" es más común para decir ¿Has comido ya tu cena?
"Have you eaten dinner yet?"

Cuando se usa "already" en preguntas, es tal vez más enfático.  A veces significa sorpresa.
"Have you ALREADY eaten dinner?  It's only three o'clock!" 

"Yet" también tiene otros usos, por ejemplo para decir "pero" o "no obstante."
"Él es pequeño, pero es fuerte."  "He is small and yet strong."

¿Te ayuda?


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## Swettenham

Hay una otra distinción, en el imperativo.

"Don't drink yet.  First we have to make a toast."
"Don't go yet.  The traffic light is still red."

"Yet" en frases imperativas negativas significa que finalmente deberás hacer la acción, pero tienes que esperar.

"Yet" no se utiliza en el imperativo afirmativo.

"Already" no se utiliza en el imperativo negativo, ni en el imperativo afirmativo en inglés correcto.  Pero hay una forma muy coloquial que usa "already."
"Drink it already!"  Es el imperativo afirmativo con más impaciencia.  No es común.


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## Tadeo

Good afternoon!!!

Can you tell me if in the following contexts these two words are interchangeable?

Are we there yet?
Are we there already?

Has he arrived already?
Has he arrived yet?

Or maybe is it that *yet *implies that the condition might change; and *already* something that already happended and so thay can't be interchanged??

Thanks .


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## SrRdRaCinG

Tadeo said:


> Are we there yet?-Se usa mucho y es lo más común.
> Are we there already?-Se puede oír, pero no tanto como el otro ejemplo.
> 
> Has he arrived already?-Se puede oír, pero no tanto como el siguiente ejemplo.
> Has he arrived yet?-Se usa mucho y es lo más común.


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## gotitadeleche

I think there can be some subtle differences.

Are we there yet - we may or may not have arrived yet, but the speaker seems to be indicating some hope that we will arrive at the destination soon, if not already.

Are we there already? - we have already arrived and the speaker is expressing pleasure/surprise that the trip went by so fast.

Has he arrived already? - same as already above.

Has he arrived yet? - same as yet above.


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## boardslide315

gotitadeleche said:


> I think there can be some subtle differences.
> 
> Are we there yet - we may or may not have arrived yet, but the speaker seems to be indicating some hope that we will arrive at the destination soon, if not already.
> 
> Are we there already? - we have already arrived and the speaker is expressing pleasure/surprise that the trip went by so fast.



De acuerdo 100%. Nota también que la énfasis suele cambiar con los dos: 

"Are we *there* yet?" vs "Are we there al*ready*?"


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## Basenjigirl

Simple explanation and practice exercise here:

http://www.eclecticenglish.com/grammar/PresentPerfect1C.html


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## By F7

porque en ingles para decir: ¿has comido ya?, se traduce como Have you eaten yet? y no como Have you already eaten?
Que alguien me explique los usos del already y yet en interrogativas y demas formas, mil gracias.


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## hellas15

To me, 'yet' would imply the future or something still to happen. 'already' would be more in the past sense.

Eg: Are we there yet? - Means 'have we arrived or do we still have to go some more?'
Are we already there? - Means in a disbelieving sense 'Have we arrived? That seemed quite short'

I hope this is what you were asking


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## advesperasceret

Hm, it's difficult. The difference is subtle.

You could, in fact, say "_Have you already eaten_" if 
(1) you had a reason to believe that the person had eaten 
(2) and you were a bit surprised at this.



> From http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/youmeus/learnit/learnitv250.shtml
> 
> *Yet - meaning and use*
> We use *yet* in questions to ask whether something has happened up to the present time. *Not yet* then indicates that it hasn't happened yet:
> 
> _Is dinner ready *yet*? I'm starving.
> ~ No, it's* not *ready *yet*. It'll be another half an hour._
> *already - meaning and use*
> Whereas still and yet normally refer to present and future circumstances,* already *normally refers to something that is in the present or recent past. It is mainly used in questions and affirmative sentences and usually expresses surprise that something has happened sooner than expected.
> 
> _When do you expect Polly to arrive?
> ~ She's already here! Haven't you seen her?
> 
> _
> _Can you give me a hand with the layout for this article.
> ~ No, I'm sorry, I'm already late. I have to leave right now.
> 
> _
> _Can you help me move those boxed upstairs?
> ~ I've already moved them.
> 
> _
> _Have you finished that typing already?
> Yes, I finished it about five minutes ago.
> 
> _
> _By the age of three, Mozart had already learnt to play the piano._


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## Blixa

Lo entendì bien?

Yet: se utiliza en oraciones negativas y en preguntas.
Already:  en oraciones afirmativas.

Gracias!


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## AntsMarching

“Already” también se usa comúnmente en inglés como adverbio para expresar irritación o fastidio.  En español es como usar la palabra “ya”.  Por ejemplo:

Would you finish your dinner already!        ¡Ya, termina de comer!
Would you come already!                         ¡Ya, ven! 

“Yet” también es una “coordinating conjunction” (conjunción coordinada) similar al “pero” y “sin embargo” en español:

He wanted to go to France; _yet_, he went to Italy.
Quería ir a Francia; _sin embargo,_ fue a Italia. 

En este sentido, “yet” es similar en inglés a “but” y “however”.  ¡Pero no se usan juntas en inglés!
ERROR:
He wanted to go to France; _but yet,_ he went to Italy.
ERROR:
He wanted to go to France, _but however_, he went to Italy.

En ingles, el uso de “yet”, “but”, y “however” require un different uso de la puntuación. “Yet” y “however” usan punto y coma, y coma.

He loved Mary_; yet_, he married Susan.
He wanted a car_; however,_ he bought a boat.

Con “but”, se usa solamente una coma, pero la coma se puede omitir cuando no hay confusión en su significado o si la oración es corta:

The company wanted to hire everyone_,_ _but_ in the end it only chose a few of them.
La compañia quería contratar a todos_, pero_ al final sólo escogió algunos.

A full _but_ hazy moon.
Una luna llena _pero_ brumosa.

Cheers!


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## manan

Hola a todos:

Sigo teniendo problemas con yet y already,, 
Entiendo que yet y already se usan en presente perfecto, y yet  se emplea en preguntas y oraciones negativas. Pueden decirme cual de las siguientes esta bien?

Have You had lunch Yet?
Have you already had your lunch?
Have you finished your lunch yet?
Did you finish your lunch yet?
Did you already finish your lunch?

Todas aparecen en varios articulos de Internet pero no se cual es la  apropiada....

Gracias!!!!!


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## steemic

Todas cinco frases están bien-escrito y tienen el mismo sentido, más o menos.

Saludos.


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## waliche

manan said:


> Have you had lunch yet?
> Have you already had your lunch?
> Have you finished your lunch yet?
> Did you finish your lunch yet?
> Did you already finish your lunch?


 
Todos me sueñan bien.
"Yet" se coloca mejor al final.
"Already" se puede poner al final como otra opción.


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## manan

Gracias muchas!!


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## Dlyons

manan said:


> Have you had lunch yet?
> Have you already had your lunch?  (but it's less usual)
> Have you finished your lunch yet?
> Did you finish your lunch yet? (not really wrong but sounds a bit odd)
> Did you already finish your lunch?  (sounds even more odd)


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## aztlaniano

Para mi gusto, cuando las preguntas se formulan con "already" parece que se sospecha que la respuesta va a ser "yes".


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## steemic

Dylons- Very interesting. Perhaps this is a cultural difference then between the two sides of the Atlantic. You could say any of these five sentences here in the US and they would all sound perfectly natural. The original poster might want to heed some caution then in using the last two depending on where they are speaking.


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## manan

Thank you Dlyons, In fact I couldn't find the last example on the internet, so it's probably wrong....

Thanks so much!!


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## Dlyons

steemic said:


> Dylons- Very interesting. Perhaps this is a cultural difference then between the two sides of the Atlantic. You could say any of these five sentences here in the US and they would all sound perfectly natural. The original poster might want to heed some caution then in using the last two depending on where they are speaking.




Yes, it's probably a UK/US thing.  May also be partly generational.

I don't think the last two would be noticed in the middle of a conversation but seeing them written in cold blood, they feel subtly not quite "comme il faut" to me.


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## elsita

manan said:


> Have You had lunch Yet?
> Have you already had your lunch?
> Have you finished your lunch yet?
> Did you finish your lunch yet?
> Did you already finish your lunch?
> 
> Todas aparecen en varios articulos de Internet pero no se cual es la  apropiada....
> 
> Gracias!!!!!



yes, I agree that they basically mean the same thing, and also that it is a US/UK difference with the last 2!
to confuse things a little, I would point out that there is a subtle difference between asking someone the following:

Have you finished your lunch yet? (said if you want the person to have finished)

Have you already finished your lunch? (said if you want the other person to still be having their lunch)


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## aztlaniano

Dlyons said:


> they feel subtly not quite "comme il faut" to me.


"Comme il faut", I should explain to the non-natives, can also be used on the West side of the Atlantic, but only to the North of the 49th parallel.
As many of us may remember, John Kerry's fate was sealed during the 2004 US presidential campaign when, at a banquet, he leaned over to make some comment to his wife in the course of which he used those words, unaware that the microphone beside him was turned on.


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