How to use STILL, ALREADY, YET & BEFORE correctly in English? #englishlessons

Hi there and welcome back to Harry's lessons. And if you haven't already subscribed to our

channel, just press the button and you'll get there very, very quickly and be able to

sign up in no time at all. So what are we going to talk to you about today? Well, we're

going to talk to you about time words. Okay. So these are expressions that we use about

time. So I go through each of them and then I'll give you some examples and hopefully

you'll be able to understand exactly what they mean because I know they cause some people

a few problems. So the first one we have is AGO. A.G.O. So ago is referring to back in

time in the past. Okay. It's all about back. So here we're using the simple past. Okay.

So when we use it, we use the simple past in terms of the verb tense.

So we talk…Let me give you an example, that's probably the easiest way. So when we talk

about a goal, we can say something like two weeks ago. So it's back in time. Okay. You're

travelling back in time, like Dr Who, okay, so back in time, two weeks ago, two months

ago, two days ago. So here's an example. You meet your friend and you're walking down the

street and you're asking them about some other friend Jane. He says: ‘Oh yes, Jane, she

moved to Canada two weeks ago.’ So he's talking about two weeks that from the time

that you met him two weeks ago. Okay. So I submitted my CV for that job three months

ago and I haven't heard anything yet. So back in time. Three months ago from now, you sent

in a CV application and you haven't heard anything about the job.

Okay. So the next time word I want to use is Before. B. E. F. O. R. E. in our first

example, when we're using a go, we said when we spoke to Paul that Jane had moved to Canada

two weeks ago. So when you met him two weeks ago, when we use before we can use the same

example and say the last time I met Paul, so that could have been last week or the week

before that. The last time I met Paul, he had told me that Jane had moved to Canada

two weeks before. Two weeks before the date you last met Paul. Okay. So if you met them

on Friday, then it was two weeks before that. Two weeks in the past. Okay. So before is

talking about again about history.

But we can also use before with the simple present and the simple past. Let me give you

two examples.

I will leave before he comes. Meaning I will leave the office, I will leave the meeting,

I will leave home before he comes. Simple present. Okay. Or the simple past. He completed

or did or finished his homework (all simple past) before he had dinner. Simple past. Okay.

So simple present and simple past. And then with the historic at use of before. Okay.

The next time word I want to use is SINCE. S.I.N.C.E. So this again can be a little bit

confusing, but we use it with the perfect tenses present, perfect or past perfect depending

on the circumstances. So let me give you a good understanding of how we use it. So let's

say I have been living in this particular house for 19 years. Okay. So that means today

is 2019. 19 years ago when I moved in would have been the year 2000. So when I use the

word since it takes me back to the past, brings me up to the present and tells me that I've

been living here since a particular date or year.

So now 2019 I've lived in the house for 19 years. I go back 19 years to 2000 the year

2000 so I can tell you I have lived in this house or I have been living in this house

since 2000 or since the year 2000. So it takes me back to the past and brings me right up

to the present. And I am still living in this house. So I have lived here - present perfect.

Or I have been living here - present perfect continuous. I have been living here since

the year 2000 since May, 2000 okay. So that's about since.

The next time word that I have for you is FOR. Now, since and four always get confused.

When we're using the word FOR, we're talking about a duration period of time. So let's

go back to my example about the house here. Living here since the year 2000 started in

the past.

It brings me up to the present. I can say it in the exact same way by saying I have

been living here for 19 years, for 19 years, the duration of 19 years. Again, it started

in the past. It brings me up to the present. I have been living here for a period of 19

years. I've been living here for 19 years. Okay.

And the next time word that I want to use is ALREADY. A.L.R.E.A.D.Y. Already. And this

again we use with the perfect tenses. It either comes in the middle of the sentence or at

the end of the sentence and it tells you something that has already happened. Okay. She had already

left the party before he arrived. She had already left the party before he arrived using

it in the task preference. She had already left the party before he arrived. So already

is in the middle of that sentence.

Yeah. Did you post that letter for me? Yes, I've posted already. I have posted it already.

Here present perfect. I have have plus the past participle posted. I have posted it already

and here we have already at the end of the sentence. So you can have it in the middle.

You can have it at the end, you can use it with the past perfect. And you can use it

with the present perfect. Okay. And the next time word then is YET Y.E.T. And this one

is a bit different so be careful. We only use it with negative statements and questions.

Okay. And it's always about something that hasn't been completed. It isn't finished.

So you're asking a question about whether something has done as has been done or you're

asking us making a stable as something in the negative. Okay. So it's always about something

incomplete.

How's he finished his dinner yet? So question you're asking, has the child or the person

completed his meal? Has he finished his dinner yet? Present perfect. Has he finished? Okay.

And then if you want to put it into a negative statement, he hasn't called me yet. He hasn't

called me yet. I'm getting very worried. So again, up to the time that you're talking

to the person, you haven't received a phone call, so it isn't complete that as an action

that hasn't finished. He hasn't called me yet. It's a negative statement. He has not

called me yet. I'm getting very worried all the time. It appears the word yet at the end

of the negative statement or at the end of the question. Okay. Okay. And then one I have

for you is STILL. This is the last time word. So we use this in positive statements or we

use it in questions.

It comes after the auxiliary verb and before the main verb. For example. Are you still

playing tennis? Question. Are you - auxiliary verb. Still - after the auxiliary verb. Play

- the main verb. Are you still playing tennis? Question mark. Positive statement. Yes. I

am still playing tennis. Yes, I am - auxiliary verb. Still - after the auxiliary verb. Playing

- before the main verb. Yes, I'm still playing tennis. Okay, so we've looked at ago, before,

since, four, yet and still. Okay. So hopefully you've got a good understanding of how to

use them. And if you want to contact us, of course, you can subscribe to our channel and

join me on www.englishlessonviaskype.com and subscribe, as I said, and we’ll see you

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