Ready and Yet
With the present perfect tense
reference: Focus on Grammar, third edition.
1. Use the present perfect with already in affirmative statements to talk about something that has
happened before now.
Ex. I’ve already mailed the invitations.
Jenna has already met Carlos.
* Be careful! We do not usually use past time expressions with the present perfect and already.
2. Already usually goes between have and the past participle.
Ex. I’ve already baked the cake. OR I’ve baked the cake already.
Already can also go at the end of the clause. (Second example)
3. Use the present perfect with yet in negative statements to talk about something that has not
happened before now.
Ex. I. haven’t cleaned yet.
It is possible that we expected something to have happened earlier, and it is still possible that it
will happen in the future.
Ex. A: Jenna hasn’t called yet.
B: Oh, I’m sure we’ll hear from her later.
4. Yet usually goes at the end of the clause.
Ex. They haven’t arrived yet.
Yet can also go between have not and the past participle.
Ex. They haven’t yet arrived.
5. Use yet in questions to ask if something has happened before now.
Ex. Have you bought the soda yet?
USAGE NOTE: We sometimes use already in questions to express surprise that something
happened sooner than expected.
Ex. Has Carlos arrived already? The party doesn’t start until 8:00!
6. For negative answers to yes/no questions, you can use haven’t or not yet.
Ex. A: Has the party started yet? B: No, it hasn’t. OR No, not yet. OR Not yet.
Complete these conversations. Use the present perfect form of the verbs in parentheses with already or
yet and short answers. Use the contractions when possible.
1) A: This is a great party. __________ you ____________(try) the cake __________?
B: __________, I __________. But I’m going to have a piece now.
2) A: Jenna, I’d like you to meet my friend Carlos.
B: We ________ __________ _______ (meet). Marta introduced us.
3) A: Would you like another cup of coffee?
B: No, thanks. I _________ _________ _________ three cups!
4) A: I don’t see Jenna. ________ she _______(leave) _________? It’s still early!
B: ____________, she _________. She’s in the kitchen.
5) A: This was a great party. I’m giving my own next week. I __________ _________
__________(plan) the whole thing, but I’m still a little nervous about it.
B: Don’t worry. If you do all the planning, the rest will take care of itself!
Never and Ever
Ever means ‘at any time’. Never means ‘at no time’ or ‘not at any time’. We often use ‘ever’ and
‘never’ with the present perfect, but they can also be used with other verb tenses.
Ex.
• I’ve never been to Brazil.
• They had never seen such a beautiful sunset before.
• Does she ever visit her mother?
In US English, ‘never’ and ‘ever’ are common with the simple past.
We use ‘ever’ with questions.
Ex.
• Have you ever studied German?
• Has Lucy ever been to the theatre?
• Do you ever come to London?
For negative questions, we can use ‘not ever’.
Ex.
• Doesn’t he ever call his grandmother?
We use ‘ever’ in negative sentences if we have ‘not’.
Ex.
• I haven’t ever been here before = I have never been here before.
• He doesn’t ever take any exercise = he never takes any exercise.
We use ‘ever’ with negative adverbs like ‘hardly’ or ‘barely’ or ‘scarcely’ and in sentences with
‘nothing’ or ‘nobody’ or ‘no one’.
Ex.
• Nobody has ever bought my paintings before.
• Nothing ever turns out right!
• We hardly ever go to the cinema.
• She barely ever replies to my emails.
We can use ‘ever’ with superlatives and adjectives like ‘only’ and ‘first’.
Ex.
• It was the first time that she’d ever been abroad.
• That is the best meal that we’ve ever had.
• It’s the only thing that I’ve ever wanted.
With comparatives, we can use ‘than ever’.
Ex.
• She was working harder than ever.
• My life is better than ever!
We can use ‘ever’ after ‘if’.
Ex.
• If you ever want a job, let me know.
• If she ever comes to London, she can stay with me.
We can use ‘never ever’ to make the meaning of ‘never’ stronger. This is informal and often used
by children.
Ex.
• I’ll never ever come here again! Sometimes ‘ever’ can mean ‘always’. We use ‘as … as ever’ to say
that something is the same as always.
• He’s as kind as ever (= he’s still very kind / he’s as kind as always)
• The city is as exciting as ever (= the city is still very exciting / the city is as exciting as always).
We use ‘ever since’ to mean all the time since a certain point. (We can also use ‘since’ without
‘ever’ in these examples, but ‘ever’ makes it stronger.)
Ex.
• I’ve loved London ever since I was a child.
• She’s wanted to have children ever since she met her husband. We use ‘ever’ to mean ‘always’ when
we say ‘for ever’ or ‘forever’.
• I will love you for ever and ever.
We use ‘ever’ to mean ‘always’ in some compounds and in some set expressions like ‘happily ever
after’.
Ex.
• The trees are evergreen.
• The prince and princess lived happily ever after.