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

5,742 views ・ 2019-09-25

Learn English with Harry


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Hi there and welcome back to Harry's lessons. And if you haven't already subscribed to our
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channel, just press the button and you'll get there very, very quickly and be able to
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sign up in no time at all. So what are we going to talk to you about today? Well, we're
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going to talk to you about time words. Okay. So these are expressions that we use about
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time. So I go through each of them and then I'll give you some examples and hopefully
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you'll be able to understand exactly what they mean because I know they cause some people
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a few problems. So the first one we have is AGO. A.G.O. So ago is referring to back in
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time in the past. Okay. It's all about back. So here we're using the simple past. Okay.
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So when we use it, we use the simple past in terms of the verb tense.
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So we talk…Let me give you an example, that's probably the easiest way. So when we talk
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about a goal, we can say something like two weeks ago. So it's back in time. Okay. You're
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travelling back in time, like Dr Who, okay, so back in time, two weeks ago, two months
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ago, two days ago. So here's an example. You meet your friend and you're walking down the
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street and you're asking them about some other friend Jane. He says: ‘Oh yes, Jane, she
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moved to Canada two weeks ago.’ So he's talking about two weeks that from the time
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that you met him two weeks ago. Okay. So I submitted my CV for that job three months
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ago and I haven't heard anything yet. So back in time. Three months ago from now, you sent
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in a CV application and you haven't heard anything about the job.
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Okay. So the next time word I want to use is Before. B. E. F. O. R. E. in our first
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example, when we're using a go, we said when we spoke to Paul that Jane had moved to Canada
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two weeks ago. So when you met him two weeks ago, when we use before we can use the same
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example and say the last time I met Paul, so that could have been last week or the week
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before that. The last time I met Paul, he had told me that Jane had moved to Canada
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two weeks before. Two weeks before the date you last met Paul. Okay. So if you met them
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on Friday, then it was two weeks before that. Two weeks in the past. Okay. So before is
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talking about again about history.
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But we can also use before with the simple present and the simple past. Let me give you
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two examples.
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I will leave before he comes. Meaning I will leave the office, I will leave the meeting,
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I will leave home before he comes. Simple present. Okay. Or the simple past. He completed
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or did or finished his homework (all simple past) before he had dinner. Simple past. Okay.
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So simple present and simple past. And then with the historic at use of before. Okay.
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The next time word I want to use is SINCE. S.I.N.C.E. So this again can be a little bit
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confusing, but we use it with the perfect tenses present, perfect or past perfect depending
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on the circumstances. So let me give you a good understanding of how we use it. So let's
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say I have been living in this particular house for 19 years. Okay. So that means today
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is 2019. 19 years ago when I moved in would have been the year 2000. So when I use the
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word since it takes me back to the past, brings me up to the present and tells me that I've
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been living here since a particular date or year.
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So now 2019 I've lived in the house for 19 years. I go back 19 years to 2000 the year
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2000 so I can tell you I have lived in this house or I have been living in this house
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since 2000 or since the year 2000. So it takes me back to the past and brings me right up
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to the present. And I am still living in this house. So I have lived here - present perfect.
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Or I have been living here - present perfect continuous. I have been living here since
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the year 2000 since May, 2000 okay. So that's about since.
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The next time word that I have for you is FOR. Now, since and four always get confused.
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When we're using the word FOR, we're talking about a duration period of time. So let's
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go back to my example about the house here. Living here since the year 2000 started in
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the past.
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It brings me up to the present. I can say it in the exact same way by saying I have
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been living here for 19 years, for 19 years, the duration of 19 years. Again, it started
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in the past. It brings me up to the present. I have been living here for a period of 19
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years. I've been living here for 19 years. Okay.
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And the next time word that I want to use is ALREADY. A.L.R.E.A.D.Y. Already. And this
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again we use with the perfect tenses. It either comes in the middle of the sentence or at
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the end of the sentence and it tells you something that has already happened. Okay. She had already
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left the party before he arrived. She had already left the party before he arrived using
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it in the task preference. She had already left the party before he arrived. So already
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is in the middle of that sentence.
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Yeah. Did you post that letter for me? Yes, I've posted already. I have posted it already.
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Here present perfect. I have have plus the past participle posted. I have posted it already
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and here we have already at the end of the sentence. So you can have it in the middle.
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You can have it at the end, you can use it with the past perfect. And you can use it
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with the present perfect. Okay. And the next time word then is YET Y.E.T. And this one
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is a bit different so be careful. We only use it with negative statements and questions.
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Okay. And it's always about something that hasn't been completed. It isn't finished.
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So you're asking a question about whether something has done as has been done or you're
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asking us making a stable as something in the negative. Okay. So it's always about something
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incomplete.
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How's he finished his dinner yet? So question you're asking, has the child or the person
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completed his meal? Has he finished his dinner yet? Present perfect. Has he finished? Okay.
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And then if you want to put it into a negative statement, he hasn't called me yet. He hasn't
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called me yet. I'm getting very worried. So again, up to the time that you're talking
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to the person, you haven't received a phone call, so it isn't complete that as an action
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that hasn't finished. He hasn't called me yet. It's a negative statement. He has not
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called me yet. I'm getting very worried all the time. It appears the word yet at the end
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of the negative statement or at the end of the question. Okay. Okay. And then one I have
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for you is STILL. This is the last time word. So we use this in positive statements or we
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use it in questions.
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It comes after the auxiliary verb and before the main verb. For example. Are you still
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playing tennis? Question. Are you - auxiliary verb. Still - after the auxiliary verb. Play
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- the main verb. Are you still playing tennis? Question mark. Positive statement. Yes. I
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am still playing tennis. Yes, I am - auxiliary verb. Still - after the auxiliary verb. Playing
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- before the main verb. Yes, I'm still playing tennis. Okay, so we've looked at ago, before,
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since, four, yet and still. Okay. So hopefully you've got a good understanding of how to
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use them. And if you want to contact us, of course, you can subscribe to our channel and
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join me on www.englishlessonviaskype.com and subscribe, as I said, and we’ll see you
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soon.
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