Still vs Yet: One Word, Two Worlds

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✍️ Author’s Column | Tymur Levitin
Founder, teacher and translator at Levitin Language School / Start Language School by Tymur Levitin

🧠 Why Students Always Confuse Still and Yet

Ask any learner what still and yet mean — and the answer will be: “both mean ‘ще’ (🇺🇦) / ‘ещё’ (📖).”
That seems correct — but only at first glance.
In reality, these two small words live in different “worlds”:

• Still looks at the present state: something continues, nothing has changed.
• Yet looks at the result from the past until now: something has (not) happened up to this moment.

Still — Everything Continues

Meaning: something started earlier and is continuing now.
Position: before the main verb, after to be.

Examples:

• She still lives in London. → Вона ще досі живе у Лондоні.
• I’m still tired. → Я ще досі втомлений.
• He has still not arrived. → Він ще досі не прийшов (з ноткою роздратування).

💡 In Perfect tenses, still often expresses criticism or irritation:

• The government has still not delivered on its promises.

Yet — Expectation and Result

Meaning: something is (not) finished, but expected.
Position: usually at the end of the sentence.

• Have you finished yet? → Ти вже закінчив?
• I haven’t called her yet. → Я ще їй не дзвонив.
• Is he here yet? → Він уже тут?

💡 Yet naturally lives in Perfect tenses, but in spoken English it also appears with Simple forms:

• Are we there yet? (classic colloquial question)
• Is it 5 o’clock yet?

Still vs Yet in One Picture

• He is still working. → Він досі працює. (Focus: present action continues.)
• He hasn’t finished work yet. → Він ще не закінчив роботу. (Focus: expected result did not happen.)

Beyond Grammar: Style and Register

Just like in Ukrainian дякую vs спасибі, or in German Danke vs Vielen Dank,
English still and yet also have stylistic layers:

• Neutral: Have you finished yet? / She still lives here.
• Colloquial: Are we there yet?
• Emotional / Critical: You still haven’t done your homework!

That is why you hear one version in a textbook and another in films. Both are correct — the difference is in register.

Cross-Language Parallels

• 🇺🇦 ще / вже often match still / yet / already, but not always one-to-one.
• 🇩🇪 noch / schon / bereits overlap with still / yet / already, but with their own logic.
• 📖 ещё / уже also overlaps, but with its own nuances in meaning.

Understanding these cross-linguistic nuances helps avoid mistakes and builds multilingual awareness.

Conclusion

Both still and yet translate as «ще», but they point in different directions:

• Still = the situation continues.
• Yet = the situation has not (or has) happened until now.

Think of it this way:

• Still looks at the present.
• Yet looks at the past + expectation.

📌 Related articles:

• Myth: Just Speak — and You’ll Learn
• Understanding Realia in Translation: Cultural Nuances Across Languages

© Tymur Levitin — Founder, Director and Head Teacher at Levitin Language School / Start Language School by Tymur Levitin
Global Learning. Personal Approach.