Confusing adverbs, "still" and "yet"

Question

Which of these sentences is correct, and why?

It's yet stopped raining. We will be able to leave soon.

It's still stopped raining. We will be able to leave soon.

Neither is correct as they stand (well, 2 is grammatically correct, but seems not to make much sense; 1 is not correct at all). When the statement is made, is it raining, or has it stopped raining? — Andrew Leach, Mar 06 '13 at 11:30
Please supply your own research and theories, and point out just what you find confusing and why. This is not a quiz show, you know. :( — tchrist, Mar 06 '13 at 12:49
Yet is a negative polarity item, so it doesn't behave like most adverbs. — John Lawler, Mar 06 '13 at 14:37
John Lawler has the right answer. He explains it in more detail here. This question is actually dup of that one, although this may not be obvious on casual inspection. — tchrist, Mar 06 '13 at 14:41

score 1 · Answer 1 · edited Mar 06 '13 at 14:37

1

The first one does not seem right at all. The second might be rendered in speech as

It’s still not raining.

or

It still isn’t raining.

Or perhaps

It hasn’t started raining yet.

It depends on circumstances and what the speaker expects.

edited Mar 06 '13 at 14:37

tchrist

134,759

answered Mar 06 '13 at 11:36

Barry Brown

27

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 06 '13 at 11:47

Normally, one would say, in American English, The rain has stopped. We'll be able to leave soon. or It's not raining now. We'll be able to leave soon. If someone asks Is it raining again?, you can say No, it's not raining now/yet., but not It's yet stopped raining. or It's still stopped raining.

score 1 · Answer 3 · edited Mar 06 '13 at 12:36

If you wish to leave as soon as possible but have been prevented by the rain, then the idea could be expressed as either:

It has not yet stopped raining. We will be able to leave soon.
It is still raining. We will be able to leave soon.

Note that the second sentence of each is indicating hope or reassurance that the departure will be "soon", rather any certainty that the rain will stop.

score 0 · Answer 4 · edited Mar 06 '13 at 14:32

0

I believe both statements are incorrect. They don’t mean anything. Perhaps it would be better to say:

It’s now stopped raining. We will be able to leave soon.

edited Mar 06 '13 at 14:32

tchrist

134,759

answered Mar 06 '13 at 11:52

spruha

1

Or better: Now that it’s stopped raining, we’ll be able to leave soon. – tchrist Mar 06 '13 at 14:33

score 0 · Answer 5 · edited Mar 06 '13 at 14:35

0

Both sentences are wrong. I think the correct way to say this would be:

It’s just stopped raining. We will be able to leave soon.

edited Mar 06 '13 at 14:35

tchrist

134,759

answered Mar 06 '13 at 12:30

user38859

11

score 0 · Answer 6 · edited Jun 15 '20 at 07:40

The words yet and still can, in certain contexts, be used with a meaning closer to the meaning of despite, but they are not even close to synonymous with each other. I think this may be where you’ve become confused.

If the English is corrected, the sentences are nonsense or close to it.

It has yet to stop raining. We will be able to leave soon.

It still hasn’t stopped raining. We will be able to leave soon.

Confusing adverbs, "still" and "yet"

6 Answers6