Results 1 to 5 of 5
Like Tree2Likes
  • 2 Post By konungursvia

Thread: 'haven't ~ yet' or 'didn't ~ yet'

  1. #1
    wotcha's Avatar
    wotcha is offline Member
    • Member Info
      • Member Type:
      • English Teacher
      • Native Language:
      • Korean
      • Home Country:
      • South Korea
      • Current Location:
      • South Korea
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Posts
    408
    Teacher

    Default 'haven't ~ yet' or 'didn't ~ yet'

    1) Nick lent her the book, but she didn't return it yet.

    2) Nick lent her the book, but she hasn't returned it yet.


    Which is grammatically correct and sounds natural?

  2. #2
    JohnParis's Avatar
    JohnParis is offline Senior Member
    • Member Info
      • Member Type:
      • Retired Academic
      • Native Language:
      • English
      • Home Country:
      • United States
      • Current Location:
      • France
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Posts
    776
    Teacher

    Default Re: 'haven't ~ yet' or 'didn't ~ yet'

    Quote Originally Posted by wotcha View Post
    1) Nick lent her the book, but she didn't return it yet.

    2) Nick lent her the book, but she hasn't returned it yet.


    Which is grammatically correct BOTH ARE and (which) sounds (the most) natural? N° 2
    John
    Last edited by JohnParis; 16-Nov-2011 at 10:20.

  3. #3
    konungursvia's Avatar
    konungursvia is offline Key Member
    • Member Info
      • Member Type:
      • Academic
      • Native Language:
      • English
      • Home Country:
      • Canada
      • Current Location:
      • Canada
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Posts
    4,050
    Teacher

    Default Re: 'haven't ~ yet' or 'didn't ~ yet'

    Note that the first is decidedly AmE. A Brit would find it sounds odd, and would prefer 2).
    Rover_KE and 5jj like this.

  4. #4
    waflob is offline Member
    • Member Info
      • Member Type:
      • English Teacher
      • Native Language:
      • English
      • Home Country:
      • UK
      • Current Location:
      • Germany
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Posts
    172
    Teacher

    Default Re: 'haven't ~ yet' or 'didn't ~ yet'

    I very much prefer the second version.

    If you question had been:

    What's the difference between

    1) Nick lent her the book, but she didn't return it.
    2) Nick lent her the book, but she hasn't returned it.

    I would have answered that in the second sentence, the book could still be returned (an implied 'yet'), but in the first sentence, the book won't ever be returned.

    This is why I don't like the combination of 'didn't' and 'yet'.
    Hope that made sense

  5. #5
    konungursvia's Avatar
    konungursvia is offline Key Member
    • Member Info
      • Member Type:
      • Academic
      • Native Language:
      • English
      • Home Country:
      • Canada
      • Current Location:
      • Canada
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Posts
    4,050
    Teacher

    Default Re: 'haven't ~ yet' or 'didn't ~ yet'

    Actually, with the adverb "yet" at the end, I don't like the AmE version much either, though it is typical here in North America.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.6.0