벌써 / 이미 / 아직 / 여전히 (already, still, yet) | Korean Grammar

English gets by with three small words — already, still, yet — to talk about where an event sits relative to what you expected. Korean carves the same territory more finely, and it does something English never bothers to: it bakes an attitude into the choice. 벌써 doesn't just say the event has happened; it says and I can't believe it happened so soon. 이미 says the same fact with a completely flat face. 아직 covers both "still" and "not yet" depending on whether the verb is positive or negative, and 여전히 means "still — exactly as before, nothing has changed." Learn the four as a set and you will stop translating "already" as a single word and start choosing the one that carries your real meaning.

벌써 vs 이미 — same fact, opposite feeling

Both 벌써 and 이미 mean the action was already completed before now. The difference is entirely emotional. 벌써 carries surprise at the earliness — "so soon?!", "already?!". 이미 is neutral, a matter-of-fact report that something was already the case. This is the single most important contrast on the page, because English "already" gives you no way to tell them apart.

벌써 아침이에요?

beolsseo achimieyo

It's morning already?! (I can't believe it)

벌써 다 끝났어요?

beolsseo da kkeunnasseoyo

It's all finished already?! (that was fast)

Swap in 이미 and the astonishment drains out — now you are simply stating a prior fact, often to explain why something else is unnecessary:

그건 이미 알고 있었어요.

geugeon imi algo isseosseoyo

I already knew that. (plainly, no surprise)

표는 이미 다 팔렸어요.

pyoneun imi da pallyeosseoyo

The tickets are already all sold out.

그 영화는 이미 봤어요.

geu yeonghwaneun imi bwasseoyo

I've already seen that movie.

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Test yourself with a mental exclamation mark. If your English "already" wants an exclamation mark — "you're done already?!" — reach for 벌써. If it would take a flat period — "I already knew" — use 이미. 벌써 is the reaction; 이미 is the report.

In practice 벌써 dominates spoken, reactive speech (you say it to someone, often as a question), while 이미 leans slightly more written and explanatory — it frequently sets up a reason: 이미 밥을 먹어서 배가 안 고파요 ("I already ate, so I'm not hungry"). Neither is formal or informal by itself; the register comes from the ending you attach.

아직 — the double-duty word: "still" and "not yet"

아직 is where English "still" and "yet" collapse into one Korean adverb, and the trick is that 아직 changes meaning depending on the polarity of the verb:

With an affirmative / progressive verb, 아직 = "still" — the situation is ongoing.
With a negative verb (안, 못, or -지 않다/못하다), 아직 = "(not) yet" — the expected event hasn't happened.

아이가 아직 자요.

aiga ajik jayo

The child is still asleep.

아직 시간이 있어요.

ajik sigani isseoyo

There's still time.

Now flip the verb negative and the very same 아직 delivers "not yet":

아직 안 끝났어요.

ajik an kkeunnasseoyo

It's not finished yet.

밥 아직 안 먹었어요.

bap ajik an meogeosseoyo

I haven't eaten yet.

Because "not yet" requires a negative in Korean, 아직 travels together with 안, 못, or a long negative. This is the error to watch: English "not yet" hides its negative inside "yet", so learners drop the 안. The negation carries the "not"; 아직 only adds "yet". For the two short-negation options see 안 negation; for the ongoing "still" reading, 아직 pairs naturally with the -고 있다 progressive.

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아직 by itself is a complete answer. "밥 먹었어요?" — "아직요." ("Have you eaten?" — "Not yet.") The 안 is understood from context, and 아직요 is the standard polite way to say "not yet" on its own. Its emphatic cousin 아직도 adds a shade of impatience or mild surprise: 아직도 안 왔어요? = "They still haven't come?!"

여전히 — "still, unchanged as ever"

여전히 also translates as "still", but it is not interchangeable with 아직. 아직 means "still, as of now (and it may yet change / hasn't reached its endpoint)". 여전히 means "still — the same as before, constant, unchanged", often against an expectation that things would have changed. It looks back to an earlier state and reports that it persists.

여전히 비가 와요.

yeojeonhi biga wayo

It's still raining (just like before).

십 년이 지났는데 여전히 바빠요.

sim nyeoni jinanneunde yeojeonhi bappayo

Ten years have gone by and I'm as busy as ever.

도시는 변했지만 사람들은 여전히 따뜻해요.

dosineun byeonhaetjiman saramdeureun yeojeonhi ttatteutaeyo

The city has changed, but the people are still just as warm.

Notice the "despite change" flavor: time passed, or something else shifted, yet this thing held constant. That is what 아직 cannot express. You can often say 아직 바빠요 ("I'm still busy"), but it just reports the state is ongoing; 여전히 바빠요 adds "same as always, nothing's changed." In careful and written registers 여전히 is the elegant choice; in fast speech people also say the near-synonym 아직도 for the "still, even now" feeling.

Putting the four side by side

Adverb	Core meaning	Attitude / restriction
벌써	already	surprise — "so soon?!"
이미	already	neutral prior fact; often explains a consequence
아직	still / (not) yet	"still" with a positive verb, "not yet" with a negative
여전히	still, as ever	unchanged from before, often against expectation of change

Why this splits differently from English

English hands you already / still / yet and lets tone of voice or an exclamation mark carry the rest. Korean front-loads that information into the word choice: 벌써 has the surprise built in, so you don't need to signal it separately. English "still" also does two jobs — "still ongoing" and "still the same as ever" — that Korean assigns to 아직 and 여전히 respectively. And English "yet" is really just "not-yet" with the negative smuggled inside; Korean makes the negative explicit (아직 + 안). So the mapping is not one-to-one:

already → 벌써 (surprised) or 이미 (neutral)
still (ongoing) → 아직 (+ positive verb)
still (unchanged) → 여전히
not yet → 아직 (+ 안 / 못 / -지 않다)

Getting these right is one of those upgrades that makes intermediate Korean suddenly sound intentional instead of translated.

Common Mistakes

1. Using 이미 when you mean surprised "already?!" 이미 is flat, so an astonished reaction lands wrong.

❌ 이미 왔어요?

imi wasseoyo

Odd as a surprised 'You're here already?!' — 이미 has no surprise.

✅ 벌써 왔어요?

beolsseo wasseoyo

You're here already?! (I didn't expect you so soon)

2. Saying "not yet" without the negative. 아직 alone is "still"; the "not" has to come from 안 / 못 / -지 않다.

❌ 아직 왔어요.

ajik wasseoyo

Doesn't mean 'hasn't come yet' — with a positive verb 아직 means 'still'.

✅ 아직 안 왔어요.

ajik an wasseoyo

They haven't come yet.

3. Putting 안 before 아직. The order is 아직 안, never 안 아직.

❌ 안 아직 먹었어요.

an ajik meogeosseoyo

Wrong word order.

✅ 아직 안 먹었어요.

ajik an meogeosseoyo

I haven't eaten yet.

4. Using 아직 for "unchanged as ever." When you mean "the same as before, despite everything", it's 여전히, not 아직.

❌ 오랜만에 만났는데 아직 똑같아요.

oraenmane mannanneunde ajik ttokgatayo

Off — 아직 sounds like 'not changed yet, might still change'.

✅ 오랜만에 만났는데 여전히 똑같아요.

oraenmane mannanneunde yeojeonhi ttokgatayo

We met after a long time, and they're exactly the same as ever.

Key Takeaways

벌써 = already with surprise; 이미 = already, neutral — same fact, different feeling.
아직 does double duty: "still" with a positive verb, "not yet" with a negative — and "not yet" always needs the 안/못/-지 않다.
아직요 is a full answer ("not yet"); 아직도 adds impatience ("still, even now?!").
여전히 = "still, unchanged as ever", looking back to a prior state that persists — not interchangeable with 아직.

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