October 29, 2025 • 10 mins
“Are we there yet?” That’s a question you’ve probably heard - or maybe even asked - especially if you’ve ever taken a road trip with kids: “Are we there yet?” “Not just yet!”
Yet is just a three-letter word, but it’s packed with meaning. It helps you talk about time, expectations, contrast, and even emphasis. And once you learn how to use yet naturally, your English is going to sound a whole lot more fluent. So today, let’s look at four of the most common ways we use yet - and I’ll show you how this tiny word makes a big impact in everyday conversation.
Join my Podcast Learner's Study Group here: https://www.myhappyenglish.com/plsg
Visit my website for over 3,000 free English lessons: https://www.myhappyenglish.com/
My AI English Tutor is HERE
Yet is just a three-letter word, but it’s packed with meaning. It helps you talk about time, expectations, contrast, and even emphasis. And once you learn how to use yet naturally, your English is going to sound a whole lot more fluent. So today, let’s look at four of the most common ways we use yet - and I’ll show you how this tiny word makes a big impact in everyday conversation.
Join my Podcast Learner's Study Group here: https://www.myhappyenglish.com/plsg
Visit my website for over 3,000 free English lessons: https://www.myhappyenglish.com/
My AI English Tutor is HERE
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Are we there yet? That's a question you've probably heard
or maybe even asked, especially if you've ever taken a
road trip with kids. Are we there yet? Not just yet?
Let's dive in.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from
New York City. And here's your English teacher, Michael.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
All right, thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael
here from Happy English and I help people speak English better.
And this is Happy English Podcast, Episode nine sixteen, How
to use yet in conversations. Thanks for tuning in and
(00:48):
welcome back today. I've got something practical and conversational for you. Yet.
Yet is just a three letter word, but it's meaning.
It helps you talk about time, expectations, contrast, and even emphasis.
(01:08):
And once you learn how to use yet, naturally your
English is going to sound a whole lot more fluent.
So today let's look at some of the most common
ways we use yet and I'll show you how this
tindy little word makes a big impact on everyday conversation.
(01:29):
Let's get into it. One of the most common ways
we use yet is in negative sentences, especially with the
present perfect tense. When we say yet in a negative sentence,
we mean this thing hasn't happened up until now, but
we expect it to happen. This usage is probably the
(01:53):
most common one and generally the only one taught in schools.
Like I haven't eaten dinner yet, This means I plan
to eat I just haven't done it up to now.
Or the train hasn't arrived yet. That means I'm waiting
(02:14):
and I still expect it to come. Here's what I
said just yesterday. Wow, Max hasn't gone outside yet. It
was raining in the morning, so he was just chilling inside,
but I still expected him to go out eventually. Now
let's compare Max hasn't gone outside. That sounds just like
(02:39):
a fact. But Max hasn't gone outside yet. Now it
sounds like I'm waiting for him to do it. See
the difference. Yet adds that sense of expectation. Now here's
another super common use we use yet in questions. We
(03:02):
use yet in questions when we want to know if
something has happened already, usually when we think it should have.
Let's say you're waiting for a reply to an email.
You might ask your coworker did she respond yet? Or
have you finished your homework yet? Here's when I ask
(03:24):
myself all the time. Did I feed Max yet? And
don't worry? He always lets me know when he's hungry. Also,
if someone's in the middle of doing something, or if
they're supposed to do something yet, helps us ask has
that thing happened already? It's a nice soft way to
(03:46):
check in. You're not demanding or pushing, you're just asking,
has this thing happened yet? Now here's a fun one.
We use yet for emphasis, especially with superlative adjectives like best, worst, coldest,
(04:07):
biggest things like that. Let's say a new album just
came out and it's really popular. You might hear it's
their best album yet. That means the best so far
up until this point. I saw a movie recently that
I really liked, and I told my friend that's the
(04:29):
best movie I've seen this year, maybe the best one yet.
Or imagine it's freezing cold like this morning. Huh ugh,
this is the coldest day yet. You're not just giving
a weather report. You're using yet to say, out of
all the cold days so far, this one is the winner.
(04:52):
It's kind of dramatic, and it's what makes it sound natural.
Now let's look at another one. You'll hear all the
time in conversation. Not just yet This phrase means not
right now, but maybe soon. It's kind of like a
(05:13):
gentle way to delay something like Let's say someone asks
you are you ready to go, and you're still tying
your shoes. You could say, not just yet, give me
one more minute. Or maybe your coworker pops by and asks, hey,
can we talk about the report? You can say, not
(05:35):
just yet, I'm in the middle of something. Not just
yet is polite, natural, and a great way to buy
yourself a little time without sounding too direct. And here's
a fun one, so close and yet so far. We
use this when something feels just within reach but then
(05:57):
slips away. Like imagine you're playing a game and you
almost win, but not quite. You can say, oh, I
was so close and yet so far. Or maybe you've
been applying for jobs and you finally get an interview
but don't land the offer. So close and yet so far.
(06:21):
It's a dramatic little phrase that captures the frustration of
being almost there. And let's be honest, we've all been
there right. Finally, we've got a more advanced use of yet,
and that's using it for contrast. You often hear it
in sentences that start with and yet, like he studied
(06:45):
all night and yet he still failed the test. That
means you expected a different result. It's surprising. Or it
was raining all day and yet we still had a
great time. I'm at the park. Here's one from a
conversation I had recently. She said she wasn't hungry, and
(07:07):
yet she ate the whole pizza. That's the power of yet.
It shows contrast, surprise, or even irony. So let's recap.
We use yet in negative sentences to show that something
hasn't happened yet, but we expect it will, like I
haven't finished my homework yet. We use yet in questions
(07:32):
when we want to know if something has already happened.
Have you eaten yet? We use yet for emphasis, especially
with superlatives, to say up till now, like that was
her best performance. Yet. We use not just yet to me,
not now, but soon, like at the restaurant you say
(07:55):
to your friend, have you decided what to order? No,
not just yet? We use so close and yet so
far when something feels close, like it's almost going to happen,
but it's not. I almost got that new job. Oh well,
so close and yet so far, and we use yet
(08:20):
to show contrast, especially with and Yet. That restaurant was
expensive and yet totally worth it. So here's your challenge
this week. Try listening for these uses of yet in conversations, movies,
and music. This week you'll start to hear it everywhere,
(08:41):
and when you do, try using it yourself. Say not
yet instead of just no, or ask a friend have
you finished that book yet? It's small changes like this
that make your English sound smoother and more natural. And hey,
if you want to go deeper and practice the grammar
(09:03):
and expressions from this episode, come join my podcast Learner's
study Group. We meet once a week to go over
the language from these podcast lessons together. Just click the link.
We are listening to this podcast right now, or visit
Myhappy English dot com and choose episode nine sixteen for
(09:24):
more info. Thanks for listening, and remember, learning another language
is not easy, but it's not impossible, and I'm here
to help you on your journey.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
This podcast is brought to you by Happy English. Please
visit Myhappy English dot com show your support for Happy
English by leaving us a review. Get English, Get Happy,
Happy English
Are we there yet? That's a question you've probably heard
or maybe even asked, especially if you've ever taken a
road trip with kids. Are we there yet? Not just yet?
Let's dive in.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from
New York City. And here's your English teacher, Michael.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
All right, thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael
here from Happy English and I help people speak English better.
And this is Happy English Podcast, Episode nine sixteen, How
to use yet in conversations. Thanks for tuning in and
(00:48):
welcome back today. I've got something practical and conversational for you. Yet.
Yet is just a three letter word, but it's meaning.
It helps you talk about time, expectations, contrast, and even emphasis.
(01:08):
And once you learn how to use yet, naturally your
English is going to sound a whole lot more fluent.
So today let's look at some of the most common
ways we use yet and I'll show you how this
tindy little word makes a big impact on everyday conversation.
(01:29):
Let's get into it. One of the most common ways
we use yet is in negative sentences, especially with the
present perfect tense. When we say yet in a negative sentence,
we mean this thing hasn't happened up until now, but
we expect it to happen. This usage is probably the
(01:53):
most common one and generally the only one taught in schools.
Like I haven't eaten dinner yet, This means I plan
to eat I just haven't done it up to now.
Or the train hasn't arrived yet. That means I'm waiting
(02:14):
and I still expect it to come. Here's what I
said just yesterday. Wow, Max hasn't gone outside yet. It
was raining in the morning, so he was just chilling inside,
but I still expected him to go out eventually. Now
let's compare Max hasn't gone outside. That sounds just like
(02:39):
a fact. But Max hasn't gone outside yet. Now it
sounds like I'm waiting for him to do it. See
the difference. Yet adds that sense of expectation. Now here's
another super common use we use yet in questions. We
(03:02):
use yet in questions when we want to know if
something has happened already, usually when we think it should have.
Let's say you're waiting for a reply to an email.
You might ask your coworker did she respond yet? Or
have you finished your homework yet? Here's when I ask
(03:24):
myself all the time. Did I feed Max yet? And
don't worry? He always lets me know when he's hungry. Also,
if someone's in the middle of doing something, or if
they're supposed to do something yet, helps us ask has
that thing happened already? It's a nice soft way to
(03:46):
check in. You're not demanding or pushing, you're just asking,
has this thing happened yet? Now here's a fun one.
We use yet for emphasis, especially with superlative adjectives like best, worst, coldest,
(04:07):
biggest things like that. Let's say a new album just
came out and it's really popular. You might hear it's
their best album yet. That means the best so far
up until this point. I saw a movie recently that
I really liked, and I told my friend that's the
(04:29):
best movie I've seen this year, maybe the best one yet.
Or imagine it's freezing cold like this morning. Huh ugh,
this is the coldest day yet. You're not just giving
a weather report. You're using yet to say, out of
all the cold days so far, this one is the winner.
(04:52):
It's kind of dramatic, and it's what makes it sound natural.
Now let's look at another one. You'll hear all the
time in conversation. Not just yet This phrase means not
right now, but maybe soon. It's kind of like a
(05:13):
gentle way to delay something like Let's say someone asks
you are you ready to go, and you're still tying
your shoes. You could say, not just yet, give me
one more minute. Or maybe your coworker pops by and asks, hey,
can we talk about the report? You can say, not
(05:35):
just yet, I'm in the middle of something. Not just
yet is polite, natural, and a great way to buy
yourself a little time without sounding too direct. And here's
a fun one, so close and yet so far. We
use this when something feels just within reach but then
(05:57):
slips away. Like imagine you're playing a game and you
almost win, but not quite. You can say, oh, I
was so close and yet so far. Or maybe you've
been applying for jobs and you finally get an interview
but don't land the offer. So close and yet so far.
(06:21):
It's a dramatic little phrase that captures the frustration of
being almost there. And let's be honest, we've all been
there right. Finally, we've got a more advanced use of yet,
and that's using it for contrast. You often hear it
in sentences that start with and yet, like he studied
(06:45):
all night and yet he still failed the test. That
means you expected a different result. It's surprising. Or it
was raining all day and yet we still had a
great time. I'm at the park. Here's one from a
conversation I had recently. She said she wasn't hungry, and
(07:07):
yet she ate the whole pizza. That's the power of yet.
It shows contrast, surprise, or even irony. So let's recap.
We use yet in negative sentences to show that something
hasn't happened yet, but we expect it will, like I
haven't finished my homework yet. We use yet in questions
(07:32):
when we want to know if something has already happened.
Have you eaten yet? We use yet for emphasis, especially
with superlatives, to say up till now, like that was
her best performance. Yet. We use not just yet to me,
not now, but soon, like at the restaurant you say
(07:55):
to your friend, have you decided what to order? No,
not just yet? We use so close and yet so
far when something feels close, like it's almost going to happen,
but it's not. I almost got that new job. Oh well,
so close and yet so far, and we use yet
(08:20):
to show contrast, especially with and Yet. That restaurant was
expensive and yet totally worth it. So here's your challenge
this week. Try listening for these uses of yet in conversations, movies,
and music. This week you'll start to hear it everywhere,
(08:41):
and when you do, try using it yourself. Say not
yet instead of just no, or ask a friend have
you finished that book yet? It's small changes like this
that make your English sound smoother and more natural. And hey,
if you want to go deeper and practice the grammar
(09:03):
and expressions from this episode, come join my podcast Learner's
study Group. We meet once a week to go over
the language from these podcast lessons together. Just click the link.
We are listening to this podcast right now, or visit
Myhappy English dot com and choose episode nine sixteen for
(09:24):
more info. Thanks for listening, and remember, learning another language
is not easy, but it's not impossible, and I'm here
to help you on your journey.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
This podcast is brought to you by Happy English. Please
visit Myhappy English dot com show your support for Happy
English by leaving us a review. Get English, Get Happy,
Happy English
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