please advise on how to use Yet to, Yet , not Yet

5 Answers

1vote

ptrob 500

YET TO:
DESCRIBES SOMETHING THAT HAS NOT HAPPENED AND HAS VERY LITTLE CHANCE OF EVER HAPPENING.

"I have yet to understand how Houdini escaped from the water tank."
"Politicians have yet to understand how despised they are for their inaction."
"That actress was nominated five times for an Oscar but is yet to win."
"Berlusconi stands convicted of tax fraud but has yet to spend one day in jail."

YET:
DESCRIBES SOMETHING THAT HAS NOT HAPPENED BUT IS VERY LIKELY TO HAPPEN SOON; OR SOMETHING IN PROCESS THAT WILL CONCLUDE IN SOME NEAR PERIOD OF TIME. IT IMPLIES EXPECTATION.

"Mommy ties my shoes for me. I haven't learned how yet."

"I got my paycheck today but the bank was closed, so I couldn't cash it yet. Can you lend me $20?"

"Is the soup ready yet?"

NOT YET:
CAN BE A COMPLETE ANSWER WHICH A NATIVE SPEAKER WILL USE RESPONDING TO A 'yet' QUESTION.

"Is the soup ready yet?" "Not yet. It needs ten more minutes to get hot."

"Did you cash your paycheck today?" "Not yet. The bank was closed."

A NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKER WILL MAKE A "not yet" STATEMENT BY SPLITTING THE "not yet" PHRASE.
THIS INVOLVES ADDING THE CONTRACTION FORM OF "do," does," "have," or "had" to the "not" PART OF THE PHRASE AND PUTTING "yet" AFTER THE VERB OR VERB/OBJECT CLAUSE.

"I don't know yet if I want a one-way train ticket or round trip."

"The salesman will call me when his boss reviews our offer. It's after 6 p.m. now. I guess he doesn't have a decision yet."

"Jamie says he is going to ask Ann to marry him, but he hasn't [asked her] yet."

"I haven't finished reading the book yet." "Not yet?" "No, not yet."

2votes

Josep 4650

Hi,

Not yet: We use this expression to say or mention that we have not finished an action yet. ''Have you finished reading your book?'' ''Not yet (You are still reading it).

Yet: We use this word in negative and interrogative sentences and we place it at the end. It means more or less the same as 'not yet'. For example: I have not finished reading my book yet (You are still reading it). When you want to ask somebody if they have finished doing something you use yet at the end ''Have you finished reading your book yet?'' (You do not know whether or not they have finished it.

About Yet to I would need some kind of context.

P.S: In British English 'Advise' refers to the verb whereas 'advice' refers to the noun, so you need to change that 's' there in your post. American English uses just 'advice' for both the verb and the noun.

Hope it helps!

1vote

Glenda 200

I think the missing context to 'yet to' is "The book is yet to be read". I'm not a native English speaker but I've seen it somewhere. I believe it means something is not finished as the other two, but in this specific case, the 'to' comes after 'yet' because of the verb that follows. The structure would be translated to Brasilian Portuguese (my mother language) as passive voice. Not really sure how it works in English. That way, we have "My answer is yet to be given.", "The socks are yet to be washed" and so on. Not sure if it's correct though...

commented

Hi Glenda,

I am not a native English speaker either but I am a professional in this language. What you are discussing is totally right! Yet to + passive voice means that something is still in process, it is not finished. What I said before, it means that you are still reading it or that you have not started reading it yet! (if we talk about the book). Hope it helps. Any doubt, do not hesitate to contact me.

0vote

Glenda 200

I believe 'yet to' is what we call in Brasilian Portuguese passive voice of the verb. It would be something like "The socks are yet to be washed". Not really sure how this works in English because I'm not a native English speaker but I've seen it somewhere. The 'to' comes after 'yet' because of the verb that follows. If that's so, the expression would be the whole pakage: "yet to be + verb in Past Participle". So we have "The book is yet to be read", "The table is yet to be settled" and so on...

0vote

Hi everyone! I have cofusion with the following senteces:

1) Mike is yet to know that we are brothers.

2) Mike yet to know that we are brothers.

Here, I would like to know the usage of the verb to be (is,am and are) in the above senteces not interested in their passive forms. Could anyone technically comment on this issue, please?

Note: I particulary need to know 'is yet to know or yet to know alone then verb1 or infinative!

Regards,

Abdul Wali.

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