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We are yet to discover....

(8 Posts)
NonGrannyMoll Sat 22-Feb-25 20:35:34

...that we aren't as clever as we think we are. Does anyone else cringe when people say "We are yet to do it..." or "It is yet to be done..."?
I want to ask them to think about it the other way around:
"Are we done it yet?"
"Is it been done yet?"
Whoopie, so now we know it has to be "have" or "has", we can all eat a celebratory Bounty bar (well, that's what I'm doing).

Silverbrooks Sun 23-Feb-25 02:12:47

Does anyone else cringe?

No. The OED is clear:

Yet (adverb - senses relating to time)

With following infinitive referring to something which has so far not happened but might be expected to happen in the future (e.g. yet to be done implies ‘not done so far’, ‘not yet done’ and police have (or are) yet to arrest any suspects implies ‘police have not yet arrested any suspects’).

Frequently preceded by has or have (later also is or are) .

Barleyfields Sun 23-Feb-25 09:51:52

Another No from me.

AuntieE Sun 23-Feb-25 14:52:45

If anything is or has yet to be done, the statement infers that someone or other has decided the step is necessary but so far (= yet) has not done anything about it.

I agree OP that you cannot say "Is it been done yet"; you could, however , say Is it done yet`? So, no, I am quite happy with this usage.

JamesandJon33 Sun 23-Feb-25 15:54:53

No, I’m happy as it is

NonGrannyMoll Sun 23-Feb-25 15:57:50

My poor old grammar Professor is turned in his grave, poor lamb.

winterwhite Sun 23-Feb-25 16:09:34

'We have yet to do it' or 'This has yet to be done' sound a bit forced to me. The OP's grammar professor must be sleeping very uneasily if he would turn in his grave at 'is'.

But I would probably say 'This is still to be done'. How does that rank?

Witzend Tue 04-Mar-25 10:50:03

TBH I cringe at ‘Are we done it yet?’ and ‘Is it been done yet?’
but never at, ‘We are yet to discover…’ or any such usage.