still & no longer | English grammar in conversation

Hello everyone, this is Minoo at Anglo-Link. Today we're going to look at two adverbs,

Today we're going to look at two adverbs, 'still' and 'no longer'.

And use different contexts to make it clear for you how to use them correctly.

Make sure you watch the lesson till the end where we use these words in  two very typical daily conversations.

So, when you're ready, let's begin.

'No longer' means not anymore.

Suppose someone asks you:

Do you still work out at the gym?

You can answer:

No, I do not work out at the gym anymore or any longer.

Or, you can replace 'not anymore' or 'not any longer'

by 'no longer' and simply say:

No, I no longer work out at the gym.

Notice that 'no longer' goes directly before the main verb:

'work'.

I no longer work out at the gym.

But, there is one exception, and that's with the verb 'be'.

So, let's take the example of someone saying to you:

Are you still upset?

Your answer is: No, I am no longer upset.

So, 'no longer' always goes after the verb 'be'.

Alright, let's look at some other tenses where we have an auxiliary.

For example, Present Continuous tense.

The auxiliary is the verb 'be'.

Let's look at the question: Is it still snowing?

And the answer is: No, it is no longer snowing.

Or, Future Simple:

Will it still work?

No it will no longer work.

So, notice that now when we have an auxiliary,

the word 'no longer', like most adverbs, goes between the auxiliary verb and the main verb.

Now, what if we have a modal verb.

For example:

Can you still hear the music?

No, I can no longer hear it.

Like with an auxiliary verb,

it goes between the modal verb and the main verb.

Okay! Let's look at two common mistakes.

The first one is answering the question with 'still'.

So saying: No, I can't still hear it.

If you're using the negative verb 'can't', use 'anymore'.

No, I can't hear it anymore.

The second common mistake is using double negative.

So: Is it still snowing?

And saying: No, it is not no longer snowing.

'No longer' is a complete negative expression.

You don't need to make your verb negative.

So, drop the 'not'. No it is no longer snowing.

So, can we ever use 'still' in a negative sentence?

The answer is... Yes! But in a very specific context.

Let's suppose you say to someone:

I can't hear the music. Could you turn it up please?

And they say: Sure!

They turn it up and they ask you:

Can you hear it now?

And you can't, so you can say:

No, I still can't hear it.

Notice very importantly where 'still' goes in the sentence.

It goes before the negative modal verb.

You are stressing the point that you still cannot hear it.

Right! Let's put all of that together in two typical conversations.

Starting with conversation number 1.

Someone says:

Are you still waiting for your exam results?

Yes, I'm still waiting.

Do they still send them by post?

No, they no longer post them.

They send them by email.

When did you check your emails?

I checked them this morning and didn't see an email from them.

Have a look now!

Okay! Let me check again.

No, they still haven't sent me anything.

Okay, let's look at typical conversation number 2.

Someone says:

Are you still mad at me?

No, I'm no longer mad at you.

So, are we still going out for dinner tonight?

No, we're no longer going out tonight.

Why not?

My car has a flat tyre.

Oh! Have you called the recovery people?

Yes, that was two hours ago and they still haven't sent anyone.

They let me down last time too, so I'm no longer going to use them.

Okay! That brings us to the end of this lesson.

If you want more information on the position of adverbs in a sentence, you can watch this lesson.

And please remember to check out my online course at Anglo-Link.com.

This is a course that takes you step by step to an advanced  level of spoken and written fluency in English.

And please make sure that you like, subscribe,  and allow notifications so you know when my next lesson is online.

Thanks a lot for watching, and see you again very soon.

Goodbye for now.