What's the difference between already, yet, and ever?

The words already, yet, and ever are most often translated as already. This ends up leaving many English students confused about when to use each one. So, in an attempt to resolve this, in this tip, I will talk – or try to talk – about the difference between already, yet, and ever in the sense of already.

To make it easier, let's look at the use of each word separately.

ALREADY

Perhaps the simplest word to understand and learn to use. After all, just read examples with her to see that there are no secrets:

He's only 24, but he's already achieved worldwide fame. (He is only 24 years old, but he has already achieved world fame.)

She had already left by the time we got there. (She had already left when we got there.)

I think we've already met. (I think we already know each other.)

Is it 10 o'clock already? (Is it 10 o'clock already?)

Is the doctor already in his office? (Is the doctor already in the office?)

We already know. (We already know.)

I've already had lunch. (I've already had lunch.)

YET

The word yet in the sense of already is usually used at the end of sentences. Remember that yet in the sense of is only possible in interrogative sentences:

Have you finished yet? (Have you finished?)

Have you had lunch yet? (Have you had lunch?)

Has the bus arrived yet? (Has the bus arrived yet?)

Have you finished the book yet? (Have you finished the book?)

Has the bride arrived yet? (Has the bride arrived?)

As you can see, in this case yet is always present in a question in Present Perfect. If you want to learn the Present Perfect in a very uncomplicated way, click here and discover the ebook Present Perfect: Uncovering the Secrets. You may also be interested to learn about English irregular verbs

ALREADY or YET?

But what is the difference between already and yet? That is, when should we say the sentences below:

Have you had lunch yet?

Have you already had lunch?

Well then! Seeing written like this, the difference does not exist. But when we go to spoken English, then the difference is observed in the context and intonation of the voice.

When we ask the question already, the idea is to show surprise that an action happened earlier than expected. When we speak we put the emphasis on already: “ Have you ALREADY had lunch? “. In the question with yet, the idea is just to know if this fact has already happened. When using yet, we don't show surprise.

To make things easier, let's imagine two contexts.

1. It's 11:00 am and you meet your friend Fábio. You start a conversation with him and invite him to lunch with you later. Fábio then says that he already had lunch. You are surprised by this. It's not even noon yet. Soon, you with that face of “Dude! Like this? I huh!” will say the following in English:

Wow! Have you already had lunch? Gee! Why so early!? (Damn! Have you had lunch? Damn! Why so early?)

2. Now imagine it's 12:30 and you meet Fabio on the street. You enjoy the moment and want to invite him to lunch. But, you don't know if he already had lunch or not. Do you want to know? So, in that case, in English, you'll want to ask “What's up? Have you had lunch?”, which in English will be:

So, have you had lunch yet? In case you haven't, we could have lunch together. What do you say? (So, have you had lunch? If not, we can have lunch together. What do you say?)

Did you notice the difference in contexts? Hope so! After all, the difference between using already and yet will depend exclusively on the context. The already is used to demonstrate surprise that the action has already taken place; the yet appears just to look for information about the fact.

EVER

The word ever is only used in the sense of already also in questions with the Present Perfect. In this case, the idea is expressed is that of “sometime in my life”, “someday in my life”. See the examples:

Have you ever met a famous person? (Have you ever met a famous person?)

Have you ever ridden a horse? (Have you ever ridden a horse?)

Has he ever done that before? (Has he done this before?)

Have they ever flown a plane? (Have they ever flown a plane?)

Remember that ever is used to emphasize the idea of ​​a lifetime.

CONCLUSION

English Language Usage GrammarSee that the key to learning how to use these words is in context. Or rather, using the English language. It's not about learning meaningless grammatical rules. It's just a matter of observing language use in real life.

That's how I treat the grammar of English in the book Grammar for the Use of the English Language, without rules and without complications. With it, you can learn English grammar as it is actually used in everyday life or as a native speaker of the language actually learns it.

And that's all I have to say about using already, yet and ever. I hope it was very easy to understand. Anything, leave a comment below! To the next!