JUST ALREADY STILL YET - English Grammar Lesson (+ Free PDF & Quiz)

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- Hello lovely students,

and welcome back to English with Lucy.

I just can't believe it's already time

for another grammar lesson.

Are you still watching me?

Are you not bored of me yet?

(laughs)

Did you notice that I just, whoops, used already,

just, still, and yet in those sentences?

Those words are the topic of today's lesson,

because they are words that learners of English

usually struggle with.

But once you learn them they're easy to use.

We have a complete lesson today,

it also comes with a free PDF with a quiz

that you can use to test your understanding.

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All right, let's get started with the lesson.

So you're likely familiar with adverbs.

These are words that add extra details to verbs,

they describe verbs.

Words like slowly, quietly, quickly.

An example, I slowly walked through the park,

or the little girl sat quietly in her room.

Now the four adverbs

that I'm going to discuss with you today,

are a little different, they are adverbs of time,

meaning they generally describe when something happens,

there are a few exceptions,

don't worry we will go through those as well.

To understand them visually, take a look at this timeline.

We can see the past, now, and the future.

Already and just are used to talk

about actions in the past that are finished.

They're not ongoing, they're finished, completed, done.

Yet is used to talk about things

that are planned to happen in the future,

and still is the tricky one.

It can have different meanings depending on the usage.

These adverbs of time are mostly used

with the present perfect, have done, I have done.

This is because they are used to describe actions

that are related to the present in terms of their timing.

I'm going to give you a couple of examples

to demonstrate the timing now.

With just, we have, I've just finished my homework.

I've just finished my homework,

I finished my homework a short while ago.

With already, I've already watched that movie.

I've already watched that movie,

I watched that movie sometime in the past.

So just is a short while ago,

and already, sometime in the past.

It could be a few days ago,

it could be a few months ago, we don't know.

But what we do know is that it's happened longer ago

than just, I've just watched that movie,

I've very recently watched it.

I've already watched that movie, a bit further back in time.

Let's take a look at yet.

I haven't been to the supermarket yet.

I haven't been to the supermarket yet.

This means that it's planned, but not done.

You've planned something, but you haven't done it yet.

See, perfect place to use that word.

And still, I still haven't called my teacher.

I still haven't called my teacher.

In this context, it also means that it's planned,

but not done.

This meaning is very similar to the third example,

the previous example.

The difference is that this implies,

the still here implies

that this action should have already been completed,

but you still haven't done it yet.

The still here focuses a little bit more

on that you should have already performed that action,

but you still haven't.

Maybe you've been procrastinating,

maybe you downloaded candy crush, I did that once.

I know that's a very old game, I, it was ridiculous.

Anyway, moving on.

So we've got the basic outline,

let's dive a little deeper and look at them as individuals.

Already, already has three basic usages.

First usage, it's used to describe something

that happened in the near past as we discussed before.

You don't need to wash up, I've already done it.

I've very recently washed up.

The action likely happened several minutes ago.

Second usage, we use it to describe an action

that happened longer ago.

I don't want to travel to Spain, I've already been there.

That is the biggest lie I've ever said.

I always want to travel to Spain.

In this sentence, the meaning of already could be months

or years in the past.

It's much further in the past than the first example.

The third use of already, and this is an important one

is to express the idea that something happened

quicker than expected.

The test started 10 minutes ago,

but she's already finished it.

That is way quicker than I expected.

Maybe the test is meant to be 30 or 60 minutes long,

but the student finished it in 10 minutes.

This action took place sooner than expected.

I can't believe you finished it already.

Let's have a quick test to check your understanding.

I'm going to show you two sentences,

and I want you to think about the meaning

of already in that sentence, whether it's the first usage,

the near past, the second usage, longer ago

or the third usage, quicker than expected.

First one, I don't want to see that concert,

I've already seen them live.

I don't want to see that concert,

I've already seen them live.

One, two or three?

Near past, longer ago, or quicker than expected?

If you chose number two, then you are correct.

Number two, it's 11:00 am,

and he's already eating his lunch.

It's 11:00 am and he's already eating his lunch.

I can relate hard with this sentence.

I can really relate with the sentence.

Whenever I have a packed lunch,

I just can't stop thinking about it

until I'm finally eating it.

Which usage one, two, or three?

If you chose three, then you are incor--

joking, you're correct, did that make you jump?

Yeah, he's eating his lunch sooner than expected,

but he knows his body clock so he can do what he wants.

Let's move on to the next word, just.

Just has a very similar meaning to already

as we have already discussed a short while ago,

but it expresses that something happened much more recently.

I've just finished dinner, now it's time for dessert.

I finished dinner moments ago and now I'm ready for dessert.

However, just can talk about something

that happened a little longer ago, it could be used

to describe something that happened recently.

For example, William has just come back from America.

William could have come back several days ago

rather than moments ago,

but this is still considered recent.

I've also got three more usages of the word just.

They all have a similar general meaning

in that they express a strong feeling towards something.

An example, that's just what I wanted to say.

That's exactly or precisely what I wanted to say.

So just here is used to express a precise or exact meaning.

That's just what he thought,

that's exactly precisely what he thought.

Another example, she is just an amazing singer.

She is just an amazing singer.

It's like saying simply, she is simply an amazing singer.

So just here is used

to show a strong feeling about something.

I strongly feel that she is an amazing singer.

What about this?

Just finish the task as quickly as you can.

Just finish the task as quickly as you can.

Just here is used to express impatience when giving orders.

Just do it, do it now (chuckles).

So those were all about

having a strong feeling towards something.

We now have two more meanings,

these are used very frequently.

If I phone my husband and he's at work and he says,

"What do you need?"

I might say, I just wanted to tell you that I love you.

I just wanted to tell you that I love you.

We use just here to reduce the force of a statement

and almost to suggest that it's not important.

Oh it's not important,

I just wanted to tell you that I love you.

Another example, can I just borrow your phone

for one minute?

Can I just borrow your phone?

That's all I want, it's not much,

please can I borrow your phone?

And lastly, we can use it to mean simply or only.

I'm just a student, so I can't afford it.

I'm simply or only a student so I can't afford it.

Okay, so we have those seven usages,

let's test you once again to check your understanding.

What is just being used for in this sentence.

You should call Tom, he is just the man for the job.

I might have given it away with my hand.

You should call Tom, he's just the man for the job.

It's the third one, to express a precise or exact meaning.

He is the exact man for the job.

And the next sentence, I don't want to hear any excuses

just to be quiet.

I don't want to hear any excuses, just be quiet.

Which meaning is it?

It's usage number five, to express inpatients

when giving orders.

So we've already spoken about already and just,

but we still haven't spoken about still or yet.

So let's move on to these last two.

I mentioned earlier that still can be a little bit tricky.

This is because it can have various applications.

Let's take a look.

We can use it to describe something

that is going to happen in the near future.

In this case, it's used in a negative context.

I've been waiting for 20 minutes,

but he still hasn't arrived.

Still is often used with continuous grammar,

describing an action that is continuing

and hasn't finished yet.

He is still washing his car.

He is continuing to do so, he hasn't finished yet.

This can imply that somebody is taking longer

than they should or something is taking longer

than it should.

He's still cleaning his car.

He's still out there, he loves that car.

The last use of still is to talk about habits,

in particular habits that have not changed

even if they may be should have changed.

An example, he's 35, but he still lives with his mum.

Obviously it's absolutely fine to live with your mum

when you're 35, whatever works for you.

I mean the housing prices now.

Moving on (chuckles).

However, there is that implication

that it's not normal to do that.

It's a habit that should have been broken

according to society.

Another example, do you still go to that nightclub?

Oh, we stopped going ages ago.

It's implying, oh, you still do that.

Oh, we stopped that ages ago.

It doesn't always have to be negative.

Do you still work for Google?

For example, do you still work for Google?

"Yes," Cool, so there's still for you.

It's used to describe something

that's going to happen in the near future,

or likely to happen in the near future,

an action in progress that still hasn't finished,

or to talk about a habit that hasn't changed,

sometimes with an implication that it should have changed.

I hope that's clear for you.

If you want to test your understanding even more,

there is a quiz in the PDF.

Finally, let's talk about yet.

This adverb of time has a couple of meanings,

but the most common one is to express

that something's going to happen soon.

Have you finished your homework yet?

I expect you to finish it soon,

but I don't know if you've completed the task or not.

Comparing this to already,

have you already finished your homework?

Implies a little bit more

that I'm shocked that you've done it so soon.

Have you already finished your homework?

If I say, have you finished your homework yet?

There's no strong implication

that you've done the homework quicker

or slower than expected.

Have you still not finished your homework?

That implies that your homework is being completed

at a much slower rate than expected.

There is another meaning of yet,

and it's similar to the meaning of nonetheless.

Nonetheless, what a great word to say.

Nevertheless was always a favourite of my students.

Nonetheless means despite what has been said or done,

it's similar to, but.

Nonetheless, he's retired yet he still continues to work.

He's retired nevertheless or nonetheless,

he still continues to work.

Right, that is it for today's grammar lesson.

Now it's time to check your understanding

by completing the quiz in the PDF.

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I will see you soon for another lesson.

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Right.