# Ending sentences with 'yet'? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 30, 2021, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ending-sentences-with-yet/955226 "2021-11-30T15:59:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2021, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ending-sentences-with-yet/955226/21 "2021-12-01T12:58:53Z")
I think constructions like “Are we there yet?” are mistakenly derived from constructions like “Aren’t we there yet?”, which means “Are we still not there?” to express impatience. I think (?) I remember not hearing “Are we there yet?” until more recent decades. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2021, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ending-sentences-with-yet/955226/22 "2021-12-01T13:09:54Z")
Why do you say it’s a mistake? Seems a normal construction to me. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2021, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ending-sentences-with-yet/955226/23 "2021-12-01T13:16:54Z")
It’s a mistake because people say “Are we there yet?” when we are on the way there, and arriving is in the future, but literally it asks if we continue to be there, as if arriving was in the past. They are trying to say “Are we still not there?” as if it’s taking surprisingly long to get there, but they are actually saying “We have been there but I’m asking if we continue to be there now”. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2021, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ending-sentences-with-yet/955226/24 "2021-12-01T13:26:49Z")
I’m not sure I understand the objection. I typically use it to mean something more along the lines of “now,” with a degree of anticipation. The very first definition on [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com) is: > **yet** > adverb > 1, at the present time; [now](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/now): > _Don’t go yet. Are they here yet?_ I’m not sure why you’re saying it’s a mistake. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2021, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ending-sentences-with-yet/955226/25 "2021-12-01T13:32:12Z")
I’m surprised they haven’t reviewed this with him and modified his way of talking. Maybe they’ve decided that, if it gets people talking about him and his station, it’s best to just leave it as is. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2021, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ending-sentences-with-yet/955226/26 "2021-12-01T14:25:01Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I typically use it to mean something more along the lines of “now,” Now that you mention it, it seems to me he is using ‘yet’ to indicate ‘now’. As in 'Traffic is slow getting into Seattle **now** due to wet roads,’ and ‘There’s a collision, so your trip to Seattle is still going to take about 45 minutes **now**.’ ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2021, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ending-sentences-with-yet/955226/27 "2021-12-01T16:44:05Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > I have a feeling the usage may come from Yiddish rather than German. Interestingly, my Aunt (Dad’s sister) worked in an elderly care home for a time after she got her nursing degree. Many of the residents were Jewish. She had absolutely no problem conversing with them, as the Swiss-German dialect she learned as a child was very similar to Yiddish. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2021, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ending-sentences-with-yet/955226/28 "2021-12-01T20:54:08Z")
I’m finding definitions more like this: adverb adverb: yet 1. up until the present 2. still So, saying “are we there yet?”, suggesting we have been there up until the present, when arrival is still in the future, is wrong. “Are we there still?” is wrong the same way, but more obviously so to people more clear about the meaning of “still”. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2021, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ending-sentences-with-yet/955226/29 "2021-12-01T21:54:14Z")
That’s fairly limited, here is a respectable source: > **[Definition of YET](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/yet)** > > in addition : besides; even; on top of everything else : no less… See the full definition That is a more comprehensive definition that encompasses how the word is used in English. Specifically this definition seems to apply: > (2) **:** at this or that time **:** so soon as now ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2021, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ending-sentences-with-yet/955226/30 "2021-12-01T22:30:14Z")
Margaret DuMont: I’ve never been so insulted in my entire life! Groucho: We’ll, it’s early yet. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2021, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ending-sentences-with-yet/955226/31 "2021-12-02T18:50:54Z")
Are we having FUN yet? – Zippy ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ending-sentences-with-yet/955226/32 "2021-12-27T03:21:38Z")
‘Hurricanes, yet!’ - Key Largo ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ending-sentences-with-yet/955226/33 "2021-12-27T06:23:26Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Around here, yet often means “still.” One of the best sentences to a Wisconsinite’s ear is, “We’ve got some Spotted Cow yet, yous want to come by or no?” I’m hanging out with my aforementioned Wisconsinite mother-in-law and this “yet” construction is constantly showing up. Today she asked me “are those onions good yet?” not to mean “have they matured and are now good to eat?” which is how I would normally use “yet,” but rather to mean if they were still good. “Yet” for “still” is usual in her dialect. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ending-sentences-with-yet/955226/34 "2021-12-27T17:13:44Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I’m hanging out with my aforementioned Wisconsinite mother-in-law and this “yet” construction is constantly showing up. Today she asked me “are those onions good yet?” not to mean “have they matured and are now good to eat?” which is how I would normally use “yet,” but rather to mean if they were still good. “Yet” for “still” is usual in her dialect. A sighting in the wild! ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2021, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ending-sentences-with-yet/955226/35 "2021-12-28T00:40:32Z")
And I just spotted another usage in another thread from a post yesterday (Dec. 26): > [@What do Christians celebrate on the second days of Christmas, Easter and Pentecost?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-christians-celebrate-on-the-second-days-of-christmas-easter-and-pentecost/956676/8): > > Reading the Wiki article, it’s interesting how the majority of biblical scholars regard the story as a myth **yet** > > > [@](#): > > > > [. . . quote from somewhere discussing various conflicting opinions . . .] (Bold added.) Here, “yet” means “nevertheless” or “but”. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2021, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ending-sentences-with-yet/955226/36 "2021-12-28T02:54:41Z")
That’s a completely normal usage, as far as I can tell, not something dialectal like some of the other ones in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2021, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ending-sentences-with-yet/955226/37 "2021-12-30T00:20:11Z")
I wonder if there is any correlation between positive “yet” and positive “anymore”. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2021, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ending-sentences-with-yet/955226/38 "2021-12-30T04:26:38Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Today she asked me “are those onions good yet?” not to mean “have they matured and are now good to eat?” which is how I would normally use “yet,” but rather to mean if they were still good. “Yet” for “still” is usual in her dialect. That sounds okay to my ear. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2021, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ending-sentences-with-yet/955226/39 "2021-12-30T05:09:25Z")
I have heard this construction amongst the Mennonite community in Ohio. It’s very odd to my non-Mennonite Ohio ears. I suspect it might be a German or Pennsylvania Dutch related usage. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2021, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ending-sentences-with-yet/955226/40 "2021-12-30T16:26:46Z")
It seems that linguists use the terms “polarity sensitive items”, “positive polarity item” (PPI) and “negative polarity item” (NPI). [One paper](https://s-space.snu.ac.kr/bitstream/10371/2026/1/workingpapers_v2_108.pdf) I found online includes: - any - yet - either - can help - ever - lift a finger as examples of negative polarity items. I also learn that negative polarity items don’t require an explicitly negative sentence - they can be “licensed” by a negative environment or context, including use of “rarely”, “too”, “few”, “barely”, “refuse”. E.g. “I don’t like rain. Few of my friends like it _either_.” “I rarely see _any_ woodpeckers in this area.” “I am too old to go hill-running _anymore_”. It’s clear from this thread that for some posters (e.g. Napier) the positive use of “yet” (with the meaning of “still”) is completely acceptable, whereas for others “yet” is more strongly constrained to negative polarity and so the positive use sounds wrong. I am reminded of a discussion of the opening lines of The Road: “The snow fell, nor did it cease to fall” where this use of “nor” was acceptable to some posters and not to others. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ending-sentences-with-yet/955226.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ending-sentences-with-yet/955226.md?page=3)