An easy question on the word "yet. Which tense(s) is/are usually used with the word.?

Question

I am under the impression that the word "yet" should always be used with the perfect tenses, like
1. I have not finished my homework YET.

However, ........
2. "You are not qualified to give any medical advice YET."
3. "You have not been qualified to give any medical advice YET."

Between 2 and 3, which is correct if I am speaking to a medical student?
Also, is there any ocassion where using the other sentence would be correct (not necessarily grammatically)?

Answer 1

Sentence #2 is perfect and, as someone has already said, you can also write "You are not yet qualified..."

Sentence #3 is also possible, but the meaning is different to that of sentence #2. By saying that the student "hasn't been qualified yet", you make it a PASSIVE action, meaning that the student has to be qualified BY SOMEONE in order to be able to give medical advice. He/she is probably waiting for somebody (a professor, the NHS, I don't know!) to award him/her a qualification stating that he/she can give medical advice. In this sentence, qualified means "licensed".
On the other hand, if you say that the student "is not qualified yet", you're describing A QUALITY OF THE STUDENT, AN ABILITY that he/she still does not have. In this sentence, qualified means "competent, skilled, experienced,...".

So they're both fine but the idea they convey is different.

Yes, the perfect tenses are the right ones to be used with "yet". However, you can also use the present, in which case "yet" means "déjà", "schon", "già" (I don't know what your mother tongue is, sorry! I hope you can speak French, German or Italian. Ex.: Has he arrived yet? = Est-ce qu'il est déjà arrivé?; Ist er schon angekommen?; E' già arrivato?) or it can also be used to express impatience (Ex. Are you ready yet?! = Oh dear, how can you still not be ready?!)

Answer 2

Yes. In Grammer books, you will see the word "yet" associated with the perfect tenses. Yet, you can use it in other situations. Saying that "yet" defines perfect tenses is a way of helping beginners to use the perfect tenses instead of past simple for example. Think about this:
1- I didn't do my homework yet.
2- I haven't done my homework yet.
Ofcourse 2 is right. However, some people get confused about these 2 sentences. So the rule in the Grammer books is to use "yet" with perfect tenses. However, the other sentences you mentioned are right as well. Another example is "always". I learned in Grammer books that "always" comes with the present simple tense. However, it is not wrong to say " I will always love you" . But then, we -non-native speakers-studied that in order to differentiate between the present progressive, and the present simple tense.
So, to sum it up. "Key words" like "yet-always-usually-last" and so on, need to be studied in the context of the rule , and after that you are free to use them in the way you believe is natural.

Answer 3

All sentences sound fine. Sentence 2 sounds more general (ie, you don't have the qualifications, whatever they may be). Sentence 3 sounds more specific and formal (ie, there is some specific qualifying process, and you have not yet completed it).

In everyday speech we use "yet" in the present fairly frequently. Any parent who takes kids on a trip is familiar with the question: "Are we there yet?"

Answer 4

Women - they're such interesting creatures. However, I'm a man lucky enough who understands the female brain. So, I agree with your statements above that women use - they're very accurate. And, I would know exactly how to navigate safely around each of those statements.

Answer 5

I would use neither - instead
You are not yet qualified to give any medical advice.

Answer 6

all sentences are correct. with regards to the third sentence, it should have another statement expressing something like "however... (and express some reason)...