Grammar Challenge 3

Still, yet and already

Today we present some basic information for understanding the meaning of these adverbs and where to put them in sentences.

We use 'still' to talk about something, a situation or an action, that's continuing, often for a longer time than expected. It hasn't changed or stopped. 'Still' usually goes in the middle of the sentence, before the verb.

Still
Are you	still	married to him?
Is she		unemployed?
I'm		living with my parents.
They		haven't replied.

We use 'yet' mostly in questions and negative sentences. Using 'yet' shows that we're expecting something to happen or have happened. In spoken English 'yet' almost always comes at the end of the sentence or question and is commonly used with the present perfect.

Questions with 'yet'
Have you tidied your room Has he come home Has she finished Have they seen the film	yet?

Negative statements with 'yet'
You haven't met her He hasn't done it She hasn't spoken to him They haven't paid	yet?

We use 'already' to talk about things that have happened, often earlier than expected. It usually goes in the middle or the end of sentence, just before or after the verb and is also commonly used with the present perfect.

Present perfect with 'already'
Have you two	already	met?
He's done it She's fixed it They've sold their car

Present perfect continuous

You look tired! What have you been doing? This question uses the present perfect continuous, the verb form we use to talk about an activity that's recently stopped or just stopped and that has a connection with now.

Positive form

Subject	to have	been	present participle
I You We They	have 've	been	painting the kitchen. playing tennis. watching TV.
He She It	has 's

Negative form

Subject	to have	been	present participle
I You We They	have not haven't	been	smoking. playing tennis. working hard.
He She It	has not hasn't

Question form

Question word	to have	subject	been	present participle
What	have	I you we they	been	doing? eating? waiting for?
	has	he she it

For and since

For and since are two words which are often used in present perfect sentences when saying how long something has been happening. In this programme we learn how to use the different words.

FOR
We use for when we mention the length of time:

for

24 hours. two days. three hundred years. a few years.

Some extra information about for
It is possible to leave out the word for in positive sentences. For example: "I've lived here for seven years." / "I've lived here seven years." Both are perfectly correct.

But in negative sentences we almost always use for.

"She hasn't seen him six months" is wrong. "She hasn't seen him for six months" is correct.

With expressions like all morning, all my life or all day, we never use for:

"He's lived there all his life," not "He's lived there for all his life."

SINCE
We use 'since' when we mention a point in time in the past when something started:

since

yesterday morning . 1707. I was at university. they moved to London. he left home.

Present continuous

The present continuous is a verb form which we use to talk about things that are happening at the moment of speaking and for things that are happening around now.

For example:

At the moment I'm typing this text on the computer.
(This is happening at this exact moment)

At the moment I'm reading a very interesting book about the history of diving.
(I'm not reading it at this exact moment but it is something that I am doing around this period of time)

Positive

Subject	to be	present participle
I	am 'm	living in Birmingham studying at university waiting for a train
You We They	are 're
He She It	is 's

Negative

Subject	to be	present participle
I	am not 'm not	smoking these days working very hard at the moment answering the phone today
You We They	are not aren't
He She It	is not isn't

Must / mustn't

Must is a word that is used to talk about an obligation, something you have to do, like following a law or a rule. In this programme we look at how to use this word and its negative form, mustn't.

STRUCTURE	must / mustn't + base form
Positive sentences	I must do my homework. She must wear a uniform.
Negative sentences	We mustn't talk in here! You mustn't steal.
All pronouns take must/mustn't	I You She He It We They	must / mustn't	have a visa. buy a ticket. smoke in here. have long hair.

Have to / don't have to

Sometimes in life there are obligations or rules. There are things which you do not have a choice in, like wearing a uniform at school, for example. One structure we use to talk about these rules is have to. This programme is all about have to and its negative form, don't have to. Don't have to is used when there is no obligation to do something.

Positive
We use 'have to' to talk about things we must do, things we are obliged to do.

Subject	have to / has to	base form of verb
I You We They	have to	wear a uniform. get up early on Sundays. study hard.
He She	has to

Negative
We use 'don't have to' to talk about things we have a choice about, things we aren't obliged to do.

Subject	don't / doesn't have to	base form of verb
I You We They	don't have to	wear a uniform. get up early on Sundays. study hard!
He She	doesn't have to

Present perfect

The present perfect is a verb form which links the past and present. We use it when we talk about an action or state which started in the past and which continues up to the present time.

For example:

I've lived in London since 1994.

I started living in London in 1994 and I still live in London now.

Positive

Subject	have / has	past participle
I You We They	have 've	studied a lot this term. been teaching here for years. lived here for six years.
He She It	has 's

Negative

Subject	have not / has not	past participle
I You We They	have not haven't 've not	bought anything yet. been teaching for long. studied a lot this term.
He She	has not hasn't 's not

Question

Has / Have	subject	ever	past participle
Have	I you we they	(ever)	ridden a horse? read Harry Potter? met anyone famous?
Has	he she