yet and still

[jctgf]

Hi,

According to BBC World Service | Learning English | Grammar Challenge "yet" should usually be used in questions or negative sentences. To me, it's implied that "yet" usually isn't used in affirmative sentences.

As to "still", they don't say it's wrong to employ it in negative sentences.

My question is: is it ok to use "still" in negative sentences, please?

There's a song from U2: "I still haven't found what I'm looking for".

Thanks.

[engee30]

Hi,

According to BBC World Service | Learning English | Grammar Challenge "yet" should usually be used in questions or negative sentences. To me, it's implied that "yet" usually isn't used in affirmative sentences.

As to "still", they don't say it's wrong to employ it in negative sentences.

My question is: is it ok to use "still" in negative sentences, please?

There's a song from U2: "I still haven't found what I'm looking for".

Thanks.

It's absolutely perfect to use still with negatives, just to add some emphasis to the negative meaning of the sentence. You put still before the whole verb phrase (I still don't know her name).

However, in case you merely want to say that something hasn't happened until the present time, you use yet (not still):
I haven't met her yet.
or
I haven't yet met her.
or
I have yet to meet her.

[JohnDoe]

thanks.
just to make things absolutely clear and transparent to me, does I still don't know her name mean exactly the same as I don't know her name yet?
thanks.

[engee30]

thanks.
just to make things absolutely clear and transparent to me, does I still don't know her name mean exactly the same as I don't know her name yet?
thanks.

No, you can't say they mean exactly the same thing. They're similar in meaning. Still used with a negative form of a verb shows a stronger feeling of surprise or impatience. With yet, it's more neutral, lacking any sense of emotion.

She promised to call me back, but she hasn't done so yet.
vs
She promised to call me back, but she still hasn't done so.