have yet to do something...

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hello Alan, Mister Micawber, Beeesneees, Mordant, Esl_Expert and other native English speakers,

oxfordadvancedlearnersdictio … ionary/yet
We have yet to decide what action to take (= We have not decided what action to take).

chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010 … 119631.htm
Authorities in Dalian [color=red]are yet to assess the damage to the environment.

Is “are yet to…” fine? Isn’t “have yet to…” correct?

2

It makes sense, but it sounds bad to me here. If I had to use it, I would place “yet” at the end. Even then it feels a little clumsy.

[i]The best is yet to come.
The best has yet to come.

How was your conference last week?
Oh, I am yet to attend the conference.

May I call Marie now?
You are not to speak to her yet.[/i]

3

May I call Marie now?
You are not to speak to her yet.

What’s meant by You are not to speak to her yet in this case?

4

Hi Aphilash,

You are not to speak to her yet

This means: I am telling you that you must not speak to her for the moment -possibly you can speak to her later.

Alan

5

Thanks Alan! Actually the usage confused me in that context and now it’s clear. :slight_smile: I understand when we use “you are not to…” it simply means “you shouldn’t or must not …”

6

Thank you, Mordant.

We [color=red]have yet to decide what action to take (= We have not decided what action to take).
Can I say “are yet to” in place of [color=red]have yet to?

Authorities in Dalian [color=darkblue]are yet to assess the damage to the environment.
Is this sentence grammatically correct? Can I say “have yet to” instead of [color=darkblue]are yet to?

7

Hi Tofu,

The use of ‘have to’ merely stresses the immediacy of a decision. In other words, we are waiting to hear.

Alan

8

Alan,

Sorry, I don’t follow you.

We have yet to decide what action to take.
Does this sentence mean “We have to decide what action to take”?

9

You were right with your earlier definition: we have not decided what action to take.

It is possible to use ‘We are yet to decide what action to take’ but as Alan has indicated, this loses some sense of immediacy when compared to ‘We have yet to decide what action to take.’.

10

Thank you, B.

Alan compared “have yet to” with “be yet to,” didn’t he? I didn’t notice that.