not yet

Saying Something Has Not Happened Yet

Level 2

Not yet answers or negates an expected event: Eat already? Not yet. It keeps the expectation open, unlike an ordinary refusal or a statement that an event will never happen.

How It Works

Not yet says that an expected event has not happened by the relevant time. As a short answer to Eat already?, it means the relevant meal has not happened yet. It does not by itself reject the idea of eating.

The expectation may concern a person arriving, a shop opening or a task being done. Context supplies the person or action when Not yet stands alone. Compare with Don't want, which expresses a lack of desire, and never in a specific past-event denial. A speaker may explain when the event is expected, but not yet does not promise a particular future time.

Examples (4)

  1. Eat already? Not yet.

    Have you eaten? Not yet.

  2. She not here yet.

    She is not here yet.

  3. The shop not open yet.

    The shop has not opened yet.

  4. Finish already? Not yet, one more page.

    Have you finished? Not yet; there is one more page.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

not yetLevel 2Saying Something Has Not Happened Yet

Learn This First

Start from an expected event before saying it has not happened by the relevant time.