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Speaker 1: Are we there yet? That's a question you've probably heard

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or maybe even asked, especially if you've ever taken a

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road trip with kids. Are we there yet? Not just yet?

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Let's dive in.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from

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New York City. And here's your English teacher, Michael.

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Speaker 1: All right, thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael

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here from Happy English and I help people speak English better.

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And this is Happy English Podcast, Episode nine sixteen, How

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to use yet in conversations. Thanks for tuning in and

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welcome back today. I've got something practical and conversational for you. Yet.

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Yet is just a three letter word, but it's meaning.

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It helps you talk about time, expectations, contrast, and even emphasis.

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And once you learn how to use yet, naturally your

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English is going to sound a whole lot more fluent.

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So today let's look at some of the most common

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ways we use yet and I'll show you how this

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tindy little word makes a big impact on everyday conversation.

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Let's get into it. One of the most common ways

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we use yet is in negative sentences, especially with the

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present perfect tense. When we say yet in a negative sentence,

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we mean this thing hasn't happened up until now, but

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we expect it to happen. This usage is probably the

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most common one and generally the only one taught in schools.

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Like I haven't eaten dinner yet, This means I plan

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to eat I just haven't done it up to now.

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Or the train hasn't arrived yet. That means I'm waiting

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and I still expect it to come. Here's what I

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said just yesterday. Wow, Max hasn't gone outside yet. It

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was raining in the morning, so he was just chilling inside,

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but I still expected him to go out eventually. Now

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let's compare Max hasn't gone outside. That sounds just like

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a fact. But Max hasn't gone outside yet. Now it

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sounds like I'm waiting for him to do it. See

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the difference. Yet adds that sense of expectation. Now here's

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another super common use we use yet in questions. We

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use yet in questions when we want to know if

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something has happened already, usually when we think it should have.

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Let's say you're waiting for a reply to an email.

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You might ask your coworker did she respond yet? Or

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have you finished your homework yet? Here's when I ask

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myself all the time. Did I feed Max yet? And

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don't worry? He always lets me know when he's hungry. Also,

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if someone's in the middle of doing something, or if

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they're supposed to do something yet, helps us ask has

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that thing happened already? It's a nice soft way to

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check in. You're not demanding or pushing, you're just asking,

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has this thing happened yet? Now here's a fun one.

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We use yet for emphasis, especially with superlative adjectives like best, worst, coldest,

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biggest things like that. Let's say a new album just

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came out and it's really popular. You might hear it's

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their best album yet. That means the best so far

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up until this point. I saw a movie recently that

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I really liked, and I told my friend that's the

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best movie I've seen this year, maybe the best one yet.

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Or imagine it's freezing cold like this morning. Huh ugh,

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this is the coldest day yet. You're not just giving

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a weather report. You're using yet to say, out of

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all the cold days so far, this one is the winner.

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It's kind of dramatic, and it's what makes it sound natural.

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Now let's look at another one. You'll hear all the

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time in conversation. Not just yet This phrase means not

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right now, but maybe soon. It's kind of like a

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gentle way to delay something like Let's say someone asks

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you are you ready to go, and you're still tying

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your shoes. You could say, not just yet, give me

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one more minute. Or maybe your coworker pops by and asks, hey,

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can we talk about the report? You can say, not

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just yet, I'm in the middle of something. Not just

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yet is polite, natural, and a great way to buy

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yourself a little time without sounding too direct. And here's

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a fun one, so close and yet so far. We

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use this when something feels just within reach but then

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slips away. Like imagine you're playing a game and you

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almost win, but not quite. You can say, oh, I

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was so close and yet so far. Or maybe you've

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been applying for jobs and you finally get an interview

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but don't land the offer. So close and yet so far.

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It's a dramatic little phrase that captures the frustration of

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being almost there. And let's be honest, we've all been

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there right. Finally, we've got a more advanced use of yet,

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and that's using it for contrast. You often hear it

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in sentences that start with and yet, like he studied

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all night and yet he still failed the test. That

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means you expected a different result. It's surprising. Or it

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was raining all day and yet we still had a

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great time. I'm at the park. Here's one from a

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conversation I had recently. She said she wasn't hungry, and

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yet she ate the whole pizza. That's the power of yet.

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It shows contrast, surprise, or even irony. So let's recap.

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We use yet in negative sentences to show that something

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hasn't happened yet, but we expect it will, like I

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haven't finished my homework yet. We use yet in questions

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when we want to know if something has already happened.

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Have you eaten yet? We use yet for emphasis, especially

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with superlatives, to say up till now, like that was

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her best performance. Yet. We use not just yet to me,

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not now, but soon, like at the restaurant you say

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to your friend, have you decided what to order? No,

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not just yet? We use so close and yet so

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far when something feels close, like it's almost going to happen,

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but it's not. I almost got that new job. Oh well,

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so close and yet so far, and we use yet

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to show contrast, especially with and Yet. That restaurant was

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expensive and yet totally worth it. So here's your challenge

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this week. Try listening for these uses of yet in conversations, movies,

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and music. This week you'll start to hear it everywhere,

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and when you do, try using it yourself. Say not

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yet instead of just no, or ask a friend have

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you finished that book yet? It's small changes like this

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that make your English sound smoother and more natural. And hey,

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if you want to go deeper and practice the grammar

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and expressions from this episode, come join my podcast Learner's

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study Group. We meet once a week to go over

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the language from these podcast lessons together. Just click the link.

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We are listening to this podcast right now, or visit

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Myhappy English dot com and choose episode nine sixteen for

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more info. Thanks for listening, and remember, learning another language

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is not easy, but it's not impossible, and I'm here

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to help you on your journey.

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Speaker 2: This podcast is brought to you by Happy English. Please

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visit Myhappy English dot com show your support for Happy

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