Questions & Answers about Мясо уже готово? Нет, оно ещё не готово.
Why is it готово and not готов or готова?
Готово is the short form of the adjective for 'ready'. It ends in -о here because it describes мясо (meat), which is a neuter noun. If we were talking about a masculine noun like суп (soup), it would be готов, and for a feminine noun like курица (chicken), it would be готова.
Can I use the regular long adjective готовое instead of готово here?
It is much more natural to use the short form готово here. Short-form adjectives are used to describe temporary states, like a meal being ready right now. The long form готовое describes a more permanent characteristic, like buying 'ready-made' or pre-cooked meat at the store.
How do we say 'not yet' in Russian based on this sentence?
You use the phrase ещё не, which literally means 'still not'. In English, we often put 'yet' at the very end of the sentence, but in Russian, ещё не goes directly before the word it is negating (in this case, готово).
Why do we use оно for 'it' instead of это?
Оно is the neuter personal pronoun used to replace the neuter noun мясо in the second sentence so we do not have to repeat the word. While это is used to point things out generally (like 'this is' or 'that is'), оно acts like a direct pronoun referring back to a specific neuter object you are already talking about.