ยังไม่

Not Yet

Level 1

ยังไม่ (yang mâi) means not yet or still not. It describes the situation up to the relevant time without guaranteeing a later change.

How It Works

Not Yet or Still Not
ยังไม่ combines ยัง ('still/yet') with ไม่ ('not'). It describes an action or state that has not occurred or does not hold up to the relevant time. The speaker may expect a later change, but the expression does not guarantee one.

1. Before the Action or State
ฉันยังไม่กินข้าว means 'I haven't eaten yet' or 'I am not eating yet' in context. ยังไม่หิว means 'not hungry yet'. The order here is subject + ยังไม่ + action or state. An understood subject can be omitted through pronoun dropping: ยังไม่กินข้าว. This is a contextual option, not a claim that the version without a pronoun is always more natural. Compare ยัง ... อยู่, which can describe an ongoing action or state.

2. Compare Related Negatives
ไม่ negates the action or state; adding ยัง gives the 'still not/not yet' perspective. ยังไม่ได้กินข้าว can also say 'have not eaten yet'. It does not itself tell us that there was no opportunity to eat. The meaning of ไม่ได้ depends on its position and the complete construction; do not apply one past-action or ability reading to every occurrence. In ยังไม่ค่อยหิว ('not very hungry yet'), ไม่ค่อย limits the degree of hunger. With เคย, ยังไม่เคย describes no prior experience up to the relevant time, rather than asserting it can never happen.

3. Emphasis
In ยังไม่หิวเลย ('not hungry at all yet'), เลย emphasizes the negative hunger statement. This example does not predict when hunger will begin.

4. Questions and Answers
กินข้าวหรือยัง asks 'Have you eaten yet?'. กินข้าวยัง is a shorter question form. To give a short 'not yet' answer in this exchange, use ยัง, optionally with ครับ or ค่ะ. You can also state the action, as in ยังไม่กินข้าว. A completed-action answer can use แล้ว or กินแล้ว. These are useful response patterns for this exchange, not an exhaustive ban on other contextual replies.

5. Forms Encountered in Writing
Written forms may use มิ in place of ไม่, or มิได้. The dictionary example โรงงานของเรายังมิได้ตั้งต้นทำงาน means 'Our factory has not commenced operation yet'. Read ยัง together with the negative and action; มิได้ alone does not supply the 'yet' meaning.

Examples (5)

  1. เขายังไม่มา

    He hasn't come yet.

    Word by Word: He yet not come

    He has not arrived up to the relevant time. The sentence does not guarantee that he will arrive later.

  2. ผมยังไม่หิวครับ

    I'm not hungry yet.

    Word by Word: I yet not hungry [polite]

    ยังไม่ precedes หิว to say the speaker is not hungry yet. It does not predict when hunger will begin.

  3. เรายังไม่รู้

    We don't know yet.

    Word by Word: We yet not know

    The speakers do not know up to the relevant time. The sentence does not promise that the information will become available later.

  4. ข่าวยังไม่เป็นทางการ

    The news is not yet official.

    Word by Word: News yet not be official

    ยังไม่ precedes เป็นทางการ to say that the news is not official up to the relevant time.

  5. เขายังไม่นอน

    He hasn't gone to sleep yet.

    Word by Word: He yet not sleep

    He has not gone to sleep up to the relevant time; the sentence does not promise a later action.

Common Mistakes

  • Not using the requested ยังไม่ + verb order for the intended not-yet meaning.

    ผมกินไม่ยัง
    ผมยังไม่กิน

    For the intended statement "I have not eaten yet", use ผมยังไม่กิน: ยัง comes before the negator ไม่ and กิน. ผมกินไม่ยัง does not give that requested not-yet construction.

  • Using a bare negative when the intended short answer is not yet.

    ไม่ (in response to 'Have you eaten?')
    ยัง

    For this exercise's intended short not-yet answer to the eating question, use ยัง. Bare ไม่ does not explicitly supply the yet/still component. This comparison teaches the stated not-yet response; other full or contextual replies are possible.

How It Connects

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

ยังไม่Level 1Not Yet

Learn This First

To understand 'ยังไม่' (not yet), you first need to be familiar with the basic negation particle 'ไม่' and how Thai sentences are structured using Subject-Verb-Object order.

Words in This Pattern

ยังไม่