Hi guys! I'm Arnel, and today we're
going to look at four common words that english students can often confuse. If we want to understand how to use these
words, we need to look at four things. 1. the definition 2. when we use these words - in
positive statements, negatives, questions 3. the position in a sentence and 4. 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 Covid, 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. Ookay 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 be1. before the main verb 2. after the auxiliary
verb and before the main verb - like a sandwich. 3. after b 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 'be' form and still
goes after it. I'm still sick. Remember the 'be' forms? These are the be 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 'be'. 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! No 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 'be'. 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 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 strict grammatical rule- it's a preference. So
you'll hear both and 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
wildlife photography exhibition? I was just there. I went during my lunch break.
It was amazing. I was just there. This is probably 20 minutes ago. Have you seen Vic anywhere? 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. 1. before the main verb 2. between the auxiliary
and the main verb 3.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. No, to be honest , I just started. Still: I'm continuing to work on
my essay. Already: something is finished before now. 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? b=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
+ 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 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... 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. That's them. Subscribe to my channel. Bye!
