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"Already" expresses something happened sooner than expected; "yet" questions or denies whether something happened.
Side-by-side comparison
Before the expected time, or that something has happened. Always in affirmative or exclamatory sentences.
Have you already eaten? We were going to cook dinner.
She has already finished the book. She started it yesterday.
I have already sent the email, no need to remind me.
Not up to now / up until now. In negative or question sentences with present perfect.
Have you eaten yet? Dinner is almost ready.
She has not finished the book yet. She is only halfway through.
Is the report ready yet? The client is waiting.
Common mistake
- •The most common mistake: "I have not already done it" is wrong.
- •In negative sentences the correct word is "yet", not "already": "I have not done it yet".
Trick to remember it
- •"Already" goes in affirmatives (between auxiliary and participle).
- •"Yet" goes in negatives and questions (almost always at the end of the sentence).
Quick rule
- •"Already" = already (affirmative: "I have already eaten").
- •"Yet" = not yet (negative or question: "I have not eaten yet").
Did you know?
"Yet" as a conjunction is a completely different beast: "She was tired, yet she kept going" (nevertheless). And "yet to" has an elegant formal use: "I am yet to finish" (I have not finished yet) appears frequently in formal writing and journalism. "I have yet to see a better solution", a sophisticated construction worth knowing.
Practise what you learned
Exercise 1 · Pick the right one
Have you tried the new restaurant on Main Street _____?
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
She hasn't called me back _____. I'm starting to worry.
Exercise 3 · Form the word
Related word pairs
"Since" marks the specific point when something started; "for" indicates how long something has lasted.
"Still" = something that continues; "anymore" = something that no longer happens.
'Yet' (negative/question) and 'already' (affirmative) express whether something has happened; 'still' expresses continuation.
'A' is used before consonant sounds; 'an' is used before vowel sounds.
Bryan López
Founder of SpeakUP Academy