yet

/jɛt/

//jɛt// adv

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"yet" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“yet” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #269) as an adverb. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#269
frequency rank, English
2,763
“Y” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Thus far; up to the present; up to some unspecified time.

Corpus desk

Index EN-yet · yet · English

yet · rank #269 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #269
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,763
  • PHOTO-FINISH told

Nearest frequency peer: told (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “yet”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “yet” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of May 6, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

yet vs yo
33% similar
yet vs yu
33% similar
yet vs yr
33% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for yet
PropertyValue
Headwordyet
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdverb
IPA/jɛt/
Letters3
Frequency rank#269
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “yet” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). yet lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for yet is neighbouring look-alikes ("yo", "yu", …), not just typos; it is anadverb pronounced /jɛt/. Frequency #269 among 2,763 “Y” headwords. 7 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

yet has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "yo", "yu", "yr", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English yet, yit, from Old English ġīet, gȳta, from Proto-West Germanic *jūta, from Proto-Germanic *juta (compare West Frisian jit, jitte (“yet”), Dutch ooit (“ever”), German jetzt (“now”)), compound of (1) *ju (“already”, adverb), fro… The correct English form is yet, spelled Y-E-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Thus far; up to the present; up to some unspecified time.
  2. 2
    Thus far; up to the present; up to some unspecified time.
  3. 3
    Thus far; up to the present; up to some unspecified time.
  4. 4
    At some future time; eventually.
  5. 5
    Not as of the time referenced.
  6. 6
    In addition.
  7. 7
    Even.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how yet appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. I haven't finished yet.
  2. Have you finished yet?

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English yet, yit, from Old English ġīet, gȳta, from Proto-West Germanic *jūta, from Proto-Germanic *juta (compare West Frisian jit, jitte (“yet”), Dutch ooit (“ever”), German jetzt (“now”)), compound of (1) *ju (“already”, adverb), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂yew-, accusative of *h₂óyu (“long time”) and (2) the Proto-Germanic *ta (“to, towards”), from Proto-Indo-European *do. More at aye and -th.

Synonyms

even nowstillerenowso farto datehithertoformerlyat lastin timesooner or latereventuallysubsequentlystillbesidesfurthermoreoveradditionallystill

This word in other languages

aún(Español)jusqu'à présent(Français)noch(Deutsch)ainda(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "yet"?
"yet" is spelled Y-E-T. The IPA pronunciation is /jɛt/.
What does "yet" mean?
As an adverb, "yet" means: Thus far; up to the present; up to some unspecified time.
What words are commonly confused with "yet"?
"yet" is commonly confused with "yo", "yu", "yr". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "yet"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "yet" is /jɛt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "yet"?
Inherited from Middle English yet, yit, from Old English ġīet, gȳta, from Proto-West Germanic *jūta, from Proto-Germanic *juta (compare West Frisian jit, jitte (“yet”), Dutch ooit (“ever”), German jetzt (“now”)), compound of (1) *ju (“already”, ad... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "yet", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

bad#270men#289top#244far#295
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list