Collins Cobuild English Grammar (94 page)

previously mentioned time

4.75
    If the time you are referring to in the past or future has already been mentioned, you can use the adverb
then
.

We kept three monkeys
then
.
We were all so patriotic
then
.
It’ll be too late
then
.

To be more specific, you can use
that
with the name of a day, month, season, and so on, or with a general time word.

William didn’t come in
that Tuesday
.
So many people will be pursuing other activities
that night
.

Emphasizing the unexpected: continuing, stopping, or not happening

4.76
    If you want to comment on the existence of the relationship between past, present, and future situations, you can use one of the following adverbials:

already

any longer

any more

as yet

no longer

so far

still

up till now

up to now

yet

still
for existing situations

4.77
    If you want to say that a situation exists up to the present time, you use
still
. If you use
be
as a main verb or an auxiliary verb, you put
still
after
be
or the auxiliary. If you use any simple verb except
be
you put
still
in front of the verb.
Still
often suggests that the continuation of the situation is surprising or undesirable.

It’s a marvel that I’m
still
alive to tell the tale.
Male prejudice
still
exists in certain quarters.
Years had passed and they were
still
paying off their debts.

In negative statements that use the
n’t
contraction,
still
is placed in front of
be
or the auxiliary.

We’ve been working on it for over two years now. And it
still isn’t
finished.
We
still don’t know
where we’re going.

still
for expected situations

4.78
    You can also use
still
in front of a
to
-infinitive to say that something has not happened yet, although it is expected to, or you feel that it should.

The Government
had still to agree
on the provisions of the bill.
The problems
were still to come
.
There
are many other questions still to be answered
.

Still
is not used in negative statements in this way; see paragraph
4.79
for a similar use of
yet
.

yet
for expected situations

4.79
    If you want to indicate that something has not happened up to the present time, but is likely to happen in the future, you use
yet
with a negative.
Yet
usually comes at the end of the clause.

We don’t know the terms
yet
.
I haven’t set any work
yet
. I suppose I shall some day.
They haven’t heard
yet
.

If you want to sound more emphatic, you can put
yet
before a simple verb or after the auxiliary and negative word.

No one
yet knows
exactly what it means.
Her style
had not yet matured
.

Yet
can also be used in questions, where it is usually put at the end of the clause.

Has she had the baby
yet
?
Has Mr. Harris arrived
yet
?

4.80
    You can also use
yet
in affirmative statements to say that something that is expected has not happened up to the present time. In this case,
yet
is followed by a
to
-infinitive clause.

The true history of art in post-war America
is yet to be written
.
He
had yet to attempt
to put principles into practice.

4.81
    
Yet
is also used in affirmative statements with superlatives to show that the statement applies up to the present, but may not apply in the future.
Yet
normally comes at the end of the clause.

This is the
best
museum we’ve visited
yet
.
Mr. Fowler said that February had produced the
best
results
yet
.
This is the
biggest
and
best
version
yet
.

likely change

4.82
    If you want to say that a situation that has existed up to the present time may change in the future, you can use
as yet
,
so far
,
up to now
, or
up till now
. They are normally placed either at the beginning or the end of the clause. They are also occasionally placed after an auxiliary verb.

As yet
, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Only Mother knows
as yet
.
So far
, the terms of the treaty have been carried out according to schedule.
You’ve done well
so far
, Mrs Rutland.
Up till now
, the most extraordinary remark I remember was made by you. …something he had
up to now
been reluctant to provide.
It’s been quiet
so far
.
You haven’t once
up till now
come into real contact with our authorities.

Note that these expressions can be used in affirmative and negative statements.

a past situation that has stopped existing

4.83
    If you want to say that a past situation does not exist in the present, you can use
no longer
, or a negative with
any longer
or
any more
.

She was
no longer
content with a handful of coins.
They did
n’t
know
any longer
what was funny and what was entertaining.
They do
n’t
live together
any more
.

already
for emphasizing occurrence

4.84
    If you want to emphasize that a situation exists, rather than not yet having occurred, you use
already
. It is usually put in front of any simple verb except
be
, or after
be
as a main verb, or following an auxiliary verb.

The energy
already exists
in the ground.
Senegal
already has
a well established film industry.
He was just a year younger than Rudolph, but
was already
as tall and much stockier.
My watch says nine o’clock. And it
’s already
too hot to sleep.
We
have already advertised
your post in the papers.
Britain
is already exporting
a little coal.

You can put
already
at the beginning or the end of the clause for emphasis.

Already
robberies and lootings have increased.
I was happy for her; she looked better
already
.

Already
is not often used with the past simple, except with the verbs
be
,
have
, and
know
.

Note that
already
cannot normally be used in negative statements, but can be used in negative
if
-clauses, negative questions, and relative clauses.

Refer certain types of death to the coroner if this has not
already
been done.
Those who have not
already
left are being advised to do so.
What does it show us that we haven’t
already
felt?

Time adverbials and prepositional phrases

Specific times

4.85
    Specific time adverbials are used after the verb
be
when you want to state the current time, day, or year.

‘Well what time is it now?’ – ‘It
’s one o’clock’
.
It
was a perfect May morning
.
Six weeks isn’t all that long ago, it’
s January
.

They are also often used in prepositional phrases to say when something happened, or when it is expected to happen.

I got there
at about 8 o’clock
.
The submarine caught fire
on Friday morning
.
That train gets in
at 1800 hours
.

clock times

4.86
    Clock times are usually expressed in terms of hours and parts of an hour or minutes, for example
one o’clock
,
five minutes past one
,
one twenty
,
half past one
. The day is usually divided into two sets of twelve hours, so it is sometimes necessary to specify which set you mean by adding
a.m
.,
p.m
., or a prepositional phrase such as
in the morning
or
in the evening
.

In many official contexts, a twenty-four hour system is used.

If the hour is known, only the minutes are specified:
five past, ten to, quarter to, half past
and so on.
Midday
and
noon
are occasionally used.

times of the day

4.87
    The most frequently used words for periods of the day are
morning
,
afternoon
,
evening
, and
night
. There are also some words that refer to the rising and setting of the sun, such as
dusk
and
sunset
, and others that refer to mealtimes.

On a warm, cloudy
evening
, Colin went down to the river.
They seem to be working from
dawn
to
dusk
.
Most of the trouble comes outside the classroom, at
break-time
and
dinnertime
.