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  • Hi guys! Dan for BBC Learning English here with this week's Learner Question. Find out

  • what it is after this.

  • OK! This week's Learner Question comes from Viji from India, who writes: yet is similar

  • in meaning to but. But, people also say not yet. This is confusing. For example, did you

  • receive the book? Not yet. Please explain. Ok Viji. It's no problem at all.

  • So, yet can be used as an adverb as well as a co-ordinating conjunction.

  • Yet is similar in meaning to but. But is a co-ordinating conjunction when used to talk

  • about contrasting statements. For example, they can speak Arabic, but they can't read

  • or write it.

  • We use yet as the preferred alternative to but when we want to emphasise the contrast

  • to achieve a stronger effect. For example, they can speak Arabic, yet they can't read

  • or write it.

  • We sometimes put and in front of yet when it's used in this way. For example, they

  • can speak Arabic, and yet they can't read or write it.

  • However and nevertheless are also sometimes used as more formal alternatives to yet. For

  • example, he had no chance of winning the race. However, he kept going as fast as he could.

  • Or, she had not slept for three nights. Nevertheless, she insisted on going to work the next day.

  • Yet can also be used as an adverb to talk about something over a period of time up to

  • now - often with a sense of expectation. For example, is lunch ready yet?

  • Yet is often used with a negative form when we say that something hasn't happened up

  • to a point in the present. It's most commonly used with the present perfect tense, although

  • in American English they tend to use it with the past simple tense.

  • Still can sometimes be used as an alternative to yet, and it's more emphatic. When we

  • use still, we are surprised that something hasn't happened. Compare the following:

  • I haven't been to Wales or Scotland yet, though I've visited England many times.

  • Or, I still haven't been to Wales or Scotland, but I've visited England many times.

  • I hope that answers your question Viji. Thank you very much for writing to us. If anybody

  • else out there has a question for Learners' Questions, you can email us on: learning.english@bbc.co.uk.

  • Please remember to put Learners' Questions in the subject box and your name and where

  • you're writing from. We get a lot of emails, guys, I'm afraid we can't answer all of

  • them, but we do read every single one. And for more information, go to our website: bbclearningenglish.com.

  • That's it for this week's Learners' Questions. I'll see you next time. Bye!

Hi guys! Dan for BBC Learning English here with this week's Learner Question. Find out

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