{"id":2404,"date":"2015-11-11T09:00:10","date_gmt":"2015-11-11T17:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?p=2404"},"modified":"2020-12-10T13:44:48","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T21:44:48","slug":"how-to-use-the-word-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/how-to-use-the-word-yet\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Use the Word ‘Yet’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday, I answered an email from a Magooshe student. They wanted to know a little bit more about the two common meanings of \u201cyet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Using “Yet” to Describe Time Frames<\/h2>\n

One the meanings of \u201cyet\u201d relates to time. Often, \u201cyet\u201d describes things that will happen, but have not presently happened. For example, suppose your birthday is next month. If someone says \u201chappy birthday\u201d to you right now, you could say, \u201cIt\u2019s not my birthday yet<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u201cYet\u201d can also be used to refer to things that have already happened, but had not happened at a specific time in the past. You can use \u201cyet\u201d in this way when you want to describe what things were like in the past. For instance, when I describe my own early childhood, I sometimes say \u201cWe didn\u2019t really use email, because broadband Internet had not been invented yet<\/strong>.\u201d (I was born in 1979.)<\/p>\n

\u201cYet\u201d is used very commonly as a time word in conversational and informal English. This is the type of everyday English<\/a> you come across in popular music, TV, and casual conversation.<\/p>\n

“Yet” as a Conjunction: A Substitute for “But” or “However”<\/h2>\n

But “yet” has another meaning\u2014it can be used to mean \u201cbut,\u201d or \u201chowever.\u201d This use is not quite as common as the use of \u201cyet\u201d as a time word. But using \u201cyet\u201d as a substitute for \u201cbut\u201d or \u201chowever\u201d is certainly not uncommon.<\/em> In fact, it is quite common in formal academic writing, the kind you often see in the academically oriented TOEFL exam. (Also, those of you who are studying for the GRE as well as the TOEFL may recognize yet as a \u201cshift word<\/a>\u201d\u2014a word that introduces a contradiction or complete change in tone.)<\/p>\n

So let’s look at two examples of “yet” being used in this way. In my examples, I’ll use TOEFL-like sentences that you might see in a passage on the exam:<\/p>\n