Ongoing vs Completed: 아직 and 벌써 / 이미

Because Korean has no "have" tense, it cannot lean on a present perfect to carry the "already / yet / still" contrasts the way English does ("has already left," "hasn't come yet," "is still sleeping"). Korean assigns that job to adverbs. The verb tells you only past or non-past; the little words 아직, 벌써, and 이미 tell you where you are on the timeline of expectation. Learning to pair the right adverb with the right verb shape is what makes your Korean sound like it has a working perfect tense — without ever needing one.

아직: "still" and "not yet"

아직 points at an unfinished situation. It pairs with an ongoing predicate ("still doing") or a negative one ("not yet"). It never sits comfortably on a plain completed positive.

The English glosses split into "still" (with a positive, ongoing verb: 아직 자요) and "not yet" (with a negative: 아직 안 왔어요), but Korean uses the same 아직 for both. What unites them is the meaning "the expected change has not happened."

There is also an emphatic cousin, 아직도, which adds impatience or mild disbelief — "STILL, even now?"

벌써 and 이미: "already"

벌써 and 이미 both mean "already," and both pair with a completed predicate marked with -았/었-. This is their natural partner: "already" is about something that is done, so the verb must be past/complete.

(The last one uses the ongoing 알고 있어요 "know," because 알다 works as a continuing state — but the "already" still leans on a settled situation. With action verbs, expect the -았/었- past: 벌써 갔어요, 이미 끝났어요.)

Why these adverbs do the perfect's work

Recall that -았/었- covers both simple past and present perfect — 갔어요 is "went" and "has gone." That ambiguity is exactly why the adverbs matter so much. The verb alone can't tell you whether you mean "he went (at some point)" or "he has already gone." The adverb resolves it:

• 벌써 갔어요 — "he has already gone" (the perfect's "already").
• 아직 안 갔어요 — "he hasn't gone yet" (the perfect's "yet").
• 아직 가고 있어요 — "he's still on his way" (the perfect-progressive's "still").

In each case the aspectual nuance rides on the adverb, not the tense. This is a load-bearing habit to build: when you want an English perfect's "already/yet/still," don't fiddle with the verb — pick the adverb. For the "still on the way" vs "already there" distinction on the verb itself, see -고 있다 vs -아/어 있다.

벌써 vs 이미: surprise vs matter-of-fact

The two "already" words are not interchangeable in feeling. 벌써 carries surprise — "so soon?!", something happened sooner than you expected. 이미 is flat and factual — "as we already know," an established fact you are simply reporting. In neutral or formal writing, 이미 is the safer, more objective choice; 벌써 injects an emotional "wow, already."

For the wider family of time adverbs, see already, still, and yet.

Common Mistakes

1. Pairing 벌써 / 이미 with the present tense. "Already left" is a completed event, so it needs the past.

2. Dropping 아직 and leaving "not yet" as a bare negative. Without 아직, 안 왔어요 is just "didn't come" — the "yet" is gone.

3. Putting 아직 on a completed positive. 아직 wants an ongoing verb or a negative; a completed positive needs 벌써/이미, or you must negate.

4. Using 벌써 (surprise) for a neutral, formal statement of fact. In a report or announcement, state established facts with 이미; 벌써 sounds oddly astonished.

Key Takeaways

• Korean carries the perfect's already / yet / still contrasts with adverbs, because there is no "have" tense.
• 아직 = "still / not yet" — pairs with an ongoing verb or a negative (아직 자요, 아직 안 왔어요); 아직도 adds impatience.
• 벌써 and 이미 = "already" — pair with a completed -았/었- (벌써 갔어요, 이미 끝났어요).
• 벌써 feels surprised ("so soon?!"); 이미 is matter-of-fact ("as we already know") and the better fit for formal, objective statements.
• Match the adverb to the verb's shape: a completed verb with 아직, or a present verb with 벌써, will sound wrong to a native ear.