he didn't finish his homework yet

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Difference between 'haven't ...yet' and 'didn't.... yet'

I was wondering what the difference was between a sentence with have and one with do . For example this one:

They haven't started yet. They didn't start yet.

Is there a difference?  When would one use the first or the latter?

• present-perfect-vs-simple-past

3 Answers 3

Wikipedia has a decent article on past tenses that explains a lot of this. To summarise:

"They didn't start yet" is the negative form of the simple past , "They started." In the positive form it indicates that the activity happened at some definite known point in the past, and is over and done with now. In the negative form this is a more nebulous idea, but in this example it would imply that "they" were supposed to have started at some time. In view of that, "They didn't start yet " sounds odd. "They didn't start" is a complete idea, and "yet" tries to extend it in time in a way that the simple past doesn't allow for.

"They haven't started yet" is the negative of the perfect tense , "They have started." As the article puts it, it is "used for describing a past action's effect on the present." It more or less requires that the idea gets extended in time, which "yet" does nicely.

• 1 In "They haven't started yet", the 'yet' gives an expectation that they may start in the future, whereas without it, it's just about the state of affairs up to now. –  Mitch Commented Mar 18, 2011 at 21:07

“…haven't…yet” implies a statement about the present, i.e. what is currently happening. “Didn't” however implies a statement about the past, i.e. what has already happened.

In my view the “didn't” and “yet” in your second example therefore don't fit naturally together.

Note that there are constructions where “didn't” and “yet” would go together, for example “they didn't know yet.” The difference here is that the “yet” is implying some other past event (from the point of view of the writer) rather than something yet to happen.

I hope this is clear enough!

(One comment on your question: “first” and “latter” are not naturally complementary words; I would suggest “former” for the former.)

I don't think "didn't start yet" is really valid English in most contexts. I can't exactly say what it is about the construction that I don't like, but I decided to check written usage by others.

In Google Books I find just 14 hits for "doesn't start yet" and 91 for "didn't start yet" , compared to tens of thousands for "haven't started yet" , and for "hadn't started yet" . Even if someone wants to argue that it's not actually "ungrammatical", doesn't/didn't is certainly avoided by most writers in this context; I suggest OP does the same.

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The Past Perfect Simple Tense

• The Past Perfect Progressive Tense
• The Future Perfect Tense
• Passive Voice
• Conjugation
• Conjunctions
• Preposition
• Use after, as soon as, the moment that, until before using the past perfect simple. Ex: After she had moved out , I found her notes./ I didn’t say anything until she had finished talking.
• Use before, when, by the time before the past simple: Ex. Before I knew it, she had run out the door. / By the time he phoned her, she had found someone new.

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• The past perfect simple, to refer to the action that happened first or earlier
• The past simple to refer to the action that happened second or later
• After Sofie had finished her work, she went to lunch. (First she finished her work and then she went to eat lunch.)
• I washed the floor when the painter had gone. (First the painter left and then I washed the floor.)
• Harold had known about it for a while. (First he knew about it, then others knew about it)
• walk > walk ed / study > stud ied / stop > stop ped / create > creat ed

• By the time Doris got to the party, everyone had gone home.
• Everyone had gone home by the time Doris had got to the party.

Contractions in the Past Perfect Simple

Punctuation tip.

• I had > I'd - After I'd used the phone, I paid the bill.
• He had > He'd / She has > She'd / It has > It'd - It'd happened so quickly, I didn't notice.
• We had > We'd / You have > You'd /They are > They'd – We'd just gotten home, when we heard the blast outside.

Negative Sentences in the Past Perfect Simple Tense

• I had not eaten at that restaurant before today.
• Samantha hadn't had time to explain her side of the story.
• My friends hadn't ever gone to France.
• My friends had never gone to the USA either.

Yes/No Questions in the Past Perfect Simple

• Had you cleaned up the mess by the time they came home?
• Had Adam ever spoken to the CEO before he was fired?

Wh-Questions in the Past Perfect Simple

• What had they said that made him so angry?
• Why had he agreed to work for that salary?
• How much had he drunk before you got to him?

Tag Questions in the Past Perfect Simple

• John had known about the cancer for a couple of years, hadn't he ?
• They had been in business together, hadn't they ?
• Jennifer hadn't spoken to you about it, had she ?
• They had never eaten a proper Indian meal, had they ?

Exercises – Past Perfect Simple

• After Loren had turned on the alarm, she locked the door. (turn on)
• By the time Simone arrived , the police had already left. (arrive)
• Had you known about the contract they signed? (know)
• After the company _____Joe, he began to work on his first project. (hire)
• _____you _______ the news before you saw it on TV? (hear)
• Michael didn’t want to see the movie because he _______ the book yet. (not read)
• The concert ______ already _______when we _______ the stadium. (begin/ enter)
• Until Anne ________ Mark, she ____ never ______in love. (meet, be)
• Bill __________ for years before he finally _______. (smoke/ quit)
• _______ Sara ever _______to London by herself before then? (drive)
• How many fish ______ the boys _____ by the time it started raining? (catch)
• You ________ them to go to the beach, hadn’t you? (forbid)
• The girls _______ in weeks? That’s why they ______ so much afterwards. (exercise / hurt)
• hadn't read
• had/begun/entered
• met/had/been
• had smoked/quit
• had forbidden
• hadn’t exercised / hurt

Examples - Past Perfect Simple

• After Sofie had finished her work, she went to lunch.
• I washed the floor when the painter had gone.
• Harold had known about it for a while.
• I didn't say anything until she had finished talking.
• After she had moved out, I found her notes.
• Before I knew it, she had run out the door.
• By the time he phoned her, she had found someone new.
• I had had enough of his complaining.
• After I'd used the phone, I paid the bill.
• It'd happened so quickly, I didn't notice.
• We'd just gotten home, when we heard the blast outside.

Yes/No Questions

Wh- questions, tag questions.

• John had known about the cancer for a couple of years, hadn't he?
• They had been in business together, hadn't they?
• Jenifer hadn't spoken to you about it, had she?
• They had never eaten a proper Indian meal, had they?

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English Grammar – Using ALREADY & YET

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because he <had> said he hadn't finished his homework at 6 pm

• Thread starter Hidetomo
• Start date Jul 31, 2019

Senior Member

• Jul 31, 2019

Hello. I teach English, and the sentence (A) is in my textbook. (A) Tom probably didn't go to the movies with Mary because he said he hadn't finished his homework at 6 pm yesterday. My question is whether the sentence (B) is possible and, if it is, are there any difference from (A) in meaning. And, if (B) is not possible, could you tell me why? (B) Tom probably didn't go to the movies with Mary because he had said he hadn't finished his homework at 6 pm yesterday. Thank you in advance.  

Franco-filly

Is this an extract from a book/reader - if so what is the prior sentence - or is it an exercise? I find it a rather confusing sentence as we don't know when Tom was supposed to have gone to the movies, who he told about his homework and it sounds as though he could have told someone "I didn't finish my homework at 6pm yesterday." Something like "Tom probably didn't go to the movies with Mary yesterday evening/last night because he'd told me at 6p.m. (yesterday) that he hadn't finished his homework.  

Thank you, Franco-filly. Actually, this is a composition exercise from Japanese into English, and (A) is a correct answer. I've got your points; in the original Japanese sentence, the time Tom was supposed to have gone to the movies was not clear, and he told about his homework to "me". So, (A) would be better if I put "to me" after "he said": Tom probably didn't go to the movies with Mary because he said to me (or told me) he hadn't finished his homework at 6 p.m. yesterday. And your sentence is far clearer in terms of tense and, thus, much better. But the problem is that the time to go to the movies is not mentioned in the original sentence. So, it is possible to say, " .... because he had told me at 6 p.m. that he hadn't finished his homework.", to use past perfect as main verb and in that clause at the same time.  

Thomas Tompion

Member emeritus.

I'm mildly puzzled about sentence A too. I'd understand it as follows: Tom said that at 6 pm he hadn't finished his homework, so he wasn't free to go to the pictures. This would make A a mildly unidiomatic, slightly muddled (did he say it at 6 pm, or had he not finished by 6 pm?) way of drawing a conclusion, and I don't think the past perfect would be natural in the sentence.  

I find it a rather confusing sentence because it seems that the cause is "he said". If he had kept quiet about it, he would have gone to the movies.  

Thomas Tompion said: I'm mildly puzzled about sentence A too. I'd understand it as follows: Tom said that at 6 pm he hadn't finished his homework, so he wasn't free to go to the pictures. This would make A a mildly unidiomatic, slightly muddled (did he say it at 6 pm, or had he not finished by 6 pm?) way of drawing a conclusion, and I don't think the past perfect would be natural in the sentence. Click to expand...

Myridon said: I find it a rather confusing sentence because it seems that the cause is "he said". If he had kept quiet about it, he would have gone to the movies. Click to expand...

Hidetomo said: Thank you, Thomas Tompion. In this sentence, he said this at 6 pm, not he hadn't finished by 6 pm. Is it possible to change your sentence into "Tom said that at 6 pm he hadn't finished his homework, so he probably didn't go to the pictures." ? Click to expand...

• Aug 2, 2019

Thomas Tompion said: That wouldn't resolve uncertainty about 'at 6 pm'. If he said this at 6 pm, say " At 6 pm Tom said that he hadn't finished his homework, so he wasn't able to go to the pictures." The bit about him probably not going to the pictures would be possible if you suspect Tom of being mendacious. Click to expand...

Hidetomo said: Thank you very much, Thomas Tompion. I am afraid I don't quite follow what you are saying here. Sorry, but could you tell me what you mean? Also, in #4, you said past perfect is not natural in this sentence. "At 6 pm yesterday, Tom had told me that he had not finished his homework, so he probably didn't go to the movies with Mary that night." We learn that you can use past perfect when one event happened before another in the past. In this sentence, "Tom had told me" happened before "he didn't go to the movies with Mary". Am I wrong? Click to expand...

Thomas Tompion said: Question: Why do we think Tom didn't go to the pictures? Answer: Because he said he was still doing his homework at 6 pm. Not because he had said this, if I am any judge. There are little infelicities in the original which make you questions hard to answer, Hidetomo. Click to expand...

Hidetomo said: Thank you again, Thomas Tompion. I am terribly sorry for infelicities, but it seems that I am still missing your point... "Because he said he was still doing his homework at 6 pm." makes perfect sense and I agree this is correct, but if I say "Because he had said he was still doing his homework at 6 pm", is it gramatically impossbile, or does it mean something really different? I am really, really sorry to ask you a question that is hard to answer, but tense, especially past perfct, is very confusing... And I have to explain this to one of my students, so I need to fully understand this. Click to expand...

Thank you very much, Thomas Tompion. I was just wondering if it was possbile to establish anteriority here, (it's not really I wish to, but I just like to know if it is possbile) by regarding the presumable fact that "Tom probably didn't go to the pictures with Mary" as "an important later time", because that could only happen after 6 pm yesterday. In #2, Franco-filly proposed a sentence, "Tom probably didn't go to the movies with Mary yesterday evening/last night because he'd told me at 6p.m. (yesterday) that he hadn't finished his homework." What do you think about this sentence? He used past perfect as main verb ("he had told me") and in that clause ("he hadn't finished his homework") at the same time. I just would like to know if this is possible. Thank you!  

I've lost track of what you are trying to do here, Hidetomo. Are you asking if sentence B is a possible sentence, grammatically? or whether it is consistent with facts presented in sentence A. You write as though you have no certain train of events in your mind which you wish to explain.  

Hidetomo said: (A) Tom probably didn't go to the movies with Mary because he said he hadn't finished his homework at 6 pm yesterday. Click to expand...

Hidetomo said: because he'd told Click to expand...

• Aug 3, 2019

Thomas Tompion said: I've lost track of what you are trying to do here, Hidetomo. Are you asking if sentence B is a possible sentence, grammatically? or whether it is consistent with facts presented in sentence A. You write as though you have no certain train of events in your mind which you wish to explain. Click to expand...

dojibear said: "has said" (present perfect) means it happened before "now". "had said" (past perfect) means it happened before "then". You cannot use present perfect without establishing a "then" first. Usually that is done by using another verb. For example: This time he got caught. Before this he had always gotten away with it. This sentence is incorrect. It says "because he said". But it means "because he hadn't finished". Same problem. "He couldn't because he'd told me" is simply false. "Telling you" did not allow or prevent anything. Suggestion: if you want to discuss a grammar point, simplify your example sentence. Is your question about indirect speech? If not, remove "told" from your example sentence. Click to expand...

Hidetomo said: At 6 pm yesterday, Tom told me he hadn't finished his homework, so he probably didn't go to the movies with Mary. Click to expand...

Another way that people describe this "he told me at 6pm" is "I talked to him at 6pm", then the information he told me. For example: I'm sure Tom didn't go to the movies with Mary. I talked to Tom at 6pm, and he hadn't finished his homework yet.  

dojibear said: Another way that people describe this "he told me at 6pm" is "I talked to him at 6pm", then the information he told me. For example: I'm sure Tom didn't go to the movies with Mary. I talked to Tom at 6pm, and he hadn't finished his homework yet. Click to expand...

Hidetomo said: Yes, I am asking if sentence B is gramatically possbile. Click to expand...

Thomas Tompion said: It is possible but, in my view, it needs a context (ie. previous sentences) establishing a time after 6 pm. to justify the anteriority implicit in your use of the past perfect. Click to expand...

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Present Perfect

For recently finished actions.

Table of Contents

In this grammar section we will have a look at the tense Present Perfect to talk about recently finished/completed actions.

A: How long have you worked there? B: I have worked there for 3 years.

A: How long have you been friends? B: We haven’t been friends for long. We have been friends since 2022

The video gives an overview of to Present Perfect for something recently completed/finished actions.

It shows the meaning/usage: when and why to use the Present Perfect.

For the form and the pronunciation have a look a the different webpages:

• Present perfect form
• Present perfect pronunciation

Usage/ Meaning

How and when do we use the Present Perfect?

Present Perfect is also used to talk about something recently finished.

I have just done my homework: This means not so long ago you finished your homework . It is an unspecified time in the past . We don’t know when the person did it, but it wasn’t so long ago . It is usually used to stress that you finished the action and there it no need to do it anymore or no need to worry about it anymore .

I have already done my homework: This means you finished your homework somewhere before now . It is an unspecified time in the past . We don’t know when the person did it . It is usually used to stress that you finished the action and there it no need to do it anymore or no need to worry about it anymore .

Present Perfect is also used to talk about something that is not finished.

I haven’t done my homework yet : This means you did not finished your homework somewhere before now but that you will do it later . It is usually used to stress that you did not finished the action but you will do it somewhere soon in the future.

• Just: recently finished actions. positive and questions. Between have and the main verb : I have just finished . 
• Already: finished actions. positive and questions. Between have and the main verb : I have already finished .
• Yet: not finished, but will finish it later. Negative and questions. At the end of the sentence: I haven’t finished yet .

Have a look at the questions and write your answers in the comments below . Also give us some more details about when, where, why,….

• What have you already done today?
• What haven’t you done yet today, but must still do today?
• What have you just finished before answering these questions?
• Have you just had some food?
• Have you already finished your homework?
• Have you already studied today?
• Have you just had a phone call?
• Have you already had lunch today?
• Which movie have you already seen more than 2 times?
• Which goals in your life have you already achieved?

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What is the difference between Although he didn’t finished his homework, he still went to bed. and Although he didn’t finish his homework, he still went to bed. ?Feel free to just provide example sentences.

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The second sentence is correct. We wouldn’t say “he didn’t finished his homework” because it never actually happened, and “finished” says it’s a completed action in the past.

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Simple Past or Present Perfect Simple

Put the verbs into the correct tense (simple past or present perfect simple).

• I (just / finish) my homework.
• Mary (already / write) five letters.
• Tom (move) to this town in 1994.
• My friend (be) in Canada two years ago.
• I (not / be) to Canada so far.
• But I (already / travel) to London a couple of times.
• Last week, Mary and Paul (go) to the cinema.
• I can't take any pictures because I (not / buy) a new film yet.
• (they / spend) their holiday in New Zealand last summer?
• (you / ever / see) a whale?

He ___ his homework before dinner.

B. finished

C. finishing

D. finishes

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