1. 用作副词,表示“已经”、“至今”、“仍然”等,通常用于否定句、疑问句(包括一些表示怀疑的动词),且通常位于句末。
Is your mother back yet? 你母亲回来了吗?
I don’t want to go away yet. 我还不想离开。
I doubt if he has read it yet. 我怀疑他是否读过它。
注:在否定句中,有时也位于句中(紧跟在否定词之后),这种用法比句末位置的用法更正式。
我们还不知道答案。
正:We don’t know the answer yet. (口语或非正式)
正:We do not yet know the answer. (正式)
误:We don’t know yet the answer.
但有时可紧跟在动词后的从句前。
I don’t know yet whether he’ll come or not. 我还不知道他来不来。
比较以下两句的时态,与英国英语和美国英语有关:
我还没收到他的来信。
正:I haven’t received a letter from him yet. (英)
正:I didn’t receive a letter from him yet. (美)
2. 有时与情态动词连用,表示“迟早”、“早晚”。
We may win yet. 我们迟早会获胜的。
The plan may even yet succeed. 该计划将来说不定会成功。
3. 用作连词,表示转折,意为“但是”、“然而”,往往含有“尽管如此但……”之意。
He said he would be late, yet he arrived on time. 他说他会迟到,但他却准时到了。
注:有时可与另一个连词 and, but 连用(位于其后)。
The boy is fat and yet he runs very fast. 这男孩很胖,但却跑得很快。
I agree with you, but yet I can’t consent. 我同意你的意见,但是我不能答应。
4. 用于 not (just) yet, 意为“尚未”“还不(没有)”。
A:Are you ready to start? 你准备出发了吗?
B:Not just yet. 还没有。
A:Has he ever been to a foreign country? 他出过国吗?
B:Not yet. 没有。
yet用作连词时,与but一样也主要用于转折,意为“但是”“而”:
I have failed, yet I shall try again. 我失败了,但我还要尝试。
The judge was stern, yet completely fair. 法官很严峻,却完全公正。
They are the same, yet not the same. 它们又一样,又不一样。
It is strange, yet it is true. 那真是怪事,然而却是事实。
I’ve been away only for three years, yet I can hardly recognize my hometown. 我仅在外三年,可我几乎认不出我自己的故乡了。
He said he was our friend, yet he wouldn’t help us. 他说他是我们的朋友,但却不肯帮助我们。
■有时用在句首。
Yet the house was cheerful. 但屋子里显得很欢快。
Yet its population has doubled. 但它的人口翻了一番。
■yet有时可与并列连词and或but连用,构成习语and yet和but yet,且两者大致同义(均相当于表转折的but):
I gave him ten pounds (and) yet he was not satisfied. 我给了他十镑但他仍不满足。
She’s vain and foolish, and yet people like her. 她很虚荣愚蠢,但人们却喜欢她。
She drove very fast to the airport, but [yet, and yet, but yet] she missed the plane. 她开快车去机场,可还是误了飞机。
■although不能与表示转折的but连用,但是却可以与yet连用。如:
Although we have made some progress, yet we still have a long way to go. 我们虽然取得了些进步,但还是远远不够的。
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