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" We have yet to discover whether there are any survivors from the plane
crash.
" I have yet to speak to the personnel manager to discuss my future.
In a less formal style, we might say:
" We still don't know whether there are survivors from the plane crash.
" I haven't spoken to the manager yet, so don't know what my future will be.
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" I still haven't spoken to the manager, so don't know what my future will be.
Thus, in negative sentences, as we can see from these examples, there is
considerable overlap in meaning and use between yet and still. Still is the more
emphatic of the two.
still - meaning and use
We use still in questions, affirmative and negative sentences to indicate that
something is not finished and that we are perhaps surprised or concerned about
this. Because it is emphatic, it often carries considerable word stress:
" Is it still raining?
~ Yes, it's still raining. No chance of playing tennis today, I'm afraid.
" I still don't know whether Brendan will be coming to the engagement party.
I've tried to reach him several times on the phone, but can't seem to get hold
of him.
already - meaning and use
Whereas still and yet normally refer to present and future circumstances, already
normally refers to something that is in the present or recent past. It is mainly used
in questions and affirmative sentences and usually expresses surprise that something
has happened sooner than expected.
" When do you expect Polly to arrive?
~ She's already here! Haven't you seen her?
" Can you give me a hand with the layout for this article.
~ No, I'm sorry, I'm already late. I have to leave right now.
" Can you help me move those boxed upstairs?
~ I've already moved them.
" Have you finished that typing already?
Yes, I finished it about five minutes ago.
" By the age of three, Mozart had already learnt to play the piano.
still / already - position in sentence
Note from the above examples that in contrast to yet, still and already usually
occupy mid position in the clause.
A question from Katie Burton in China:
Some of my Chinese colleagues asked me about the phrase 'well and truly'. We can
say 'well and truly stuck' but not 'well and truly beautiful'. Are there any rules for
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using this phrase or is it just a case of learning it? Is 'well and truly' an adverb and
what should follow it, or is it an adjective and is it only for negative things?
Karen Adams answers:
Thank you for your question Katie. And first let me explain what 'well and truly stuck'
means. If something is 'well and truly stuck' you really can not move it. So for
example if your car breaks down and you try to push it and it won't move it may be
well and truly stuck. So 'well and truly' here means absolutely stuck, you can't move
it. And really when we say something is well and truly stuck it shows that we are
actually a little bit frustrated or we really aren't very happy about the fact that we
can't move it. So for example if I come home and I want to have a biscuit and I look
in the biscuit tin and there are none there I can say 'well they are well and truly
finished'.
However 'well and truly' is a very difficult phrase to use because it doesn t go with
lots and lots of different adjectives. If you were to say the words 'well and truly' to
someone in Britain they would imagine that the next word would be stuck. 'Well and
truly' is an adverbial phrase to describe the adjective stuck. And they just go
together.
There are no clear rules to for why certain adverbs go with certain adjectives, they
just do. So, for example, if you say to someone in Britain the adverb  'stunningly' 
the adjective they're most likely to think of is 'beautiful'. These are what we call fixed
phrases. They're phrases which just go together, they collocate  co locate  they go
together. It's not just adverbs and adjectives which go together in this way. We
often find nouns and nouns go together. So for example 'fish and & . chips'. Or
adjectives and nouns, for example we can say - 'heavy smoker', someone who
smokes a lot, or 'heavy drinker' someone who drinks a lot. But someone who eats a
lot? No it's not a 'heavy eater' it's a 'big eater'. Basically these phrases which go
together form patterns, there are no real rules to learn. You just have to be able to
work out what the patterns are.
So how do you learn these phrases which go together? Well the two best things you
can do are to read and to listen. When you're reading a newspaper or a book try to
work out phrases that you see coming up more than once. If you see a phrase which
goes together maybe two or three times then you can think 'mmm I think those go
together, I think those collocate.'
And similarly if you're listening to the radio, when you're listening to the BBC World
Service if you hear the phrase two or three times, make a note of it, because then
you know 'mmm this is a collocation, this is a phrase which goes together.'
So hopefully Katie that answers your question. To sum up, 'well and truly is an
adverbial phrase and most often you use it with the adjective 'stuck', 'well and truly
stuck.' You can use it in one or two other circumstances, but usually you will hear it
with he adjective 'stuck'. Although now I'm well and truly finished and I'm going to
go and have a cup of tea.
Worth and worthwhile
Roberto Miguel from Argentina writes:
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Would you please explain the difference between these two sentences:
This book is worth reading
It's worth reading this book.
and also the use and meaning of:
It's worthwhile&
It's worth somebody's while&
There is no difference in meaning between the first two sentences. In both of them
we are talking about the value of an activity. The difference is one of form only
and both forms are frequently used
Is it worth repairing this car?
Worth usually follows the verb to be and is often used with a preparatory it. It can
then be followed by an -ing clause:
" It was definitely worth making the effort to watch this documentary.
" It is always worth fighting for your freedom and independence.
Note that with this construction, it can be used to refer to an action mentioned in the
previous sentence:
" Shall we have this car repaired? ~ No, it's not worth repairing.
" I shall never have any independence. ~ It's worth fighting for, you know.
This car is not worth repairing
With this structure the object of the -ing clause is made the subject of the sentence
and the preparatory it becomes superfluous:
" This documentary was definitely worth watching. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]