What does “Not Yet” mean in English?

Vocabulary / By

“Not yet” means that something has not happened until that point but will possibly happen soon. 

Not yet is a common response to a question where the speaker expects something to have happened already.

Are you going to have a baby? You have been married for 3 years.

Not yet.

In this example, the first speaker expects that the other person will decide to have a baby soon because they have been married for three years.

“not yet” in this example means that they will have a baby but not at this moment in time.

This can also happen when one person knows what another person is planning to do.

We often use the present perfect to ask these questions.

Have you cleaned the garage?

No, not yet, I will do it after lunch.

Have you seen the new movie in the cinema?

No, not yet, I am going to see it with my girlfriend on Saturday.

The important thing to notice is that you can use”not yet”  to show that you will do something but you haven’t done it until this point.

Has not yet meaning

“Has not yet” usually appears with a verb to form the present perfect(“has not yet+verb”)

He has not yet replied to my message.

This structure is a little bit awkward in English and it is clearer to say:

He hasn’t replied to my message yet.

Conor
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