Learn Spanish (Spain): Pero la operación todavía no ha empezado.

Pero la operación todavía no ha empezado.

But the operation hasn't started yet.

Breakdown of Pero la operación todavía no ha empezado.

Questions & Answers about Pero la operación todavía no ha empezado.

Why does the sentence use todavía no instead of just todavía?

Todavía by itself usually means "still". To say "not yet" in Spanish, you must add no to it. While ya (already) shows that an expected action has happened, todavía no is the perfect way to express that something hasn't happened yet, but we expect it to.

Can I put todavía no at the very end, like we do with "yet" in English?

Yes, but you have to split the words. You would say Pero la operación no ha empezado todavía. The no must stay directly in front of the verb ha empezado, while todavía can jump to the end. However, keeping todavía no together before the verb is extremely common and natural in Spanish.

Why do we use ha empezado instead of a simple past tense?

The phrase todavía no strongly connects a past event to the present moment, meaning it hasn't started up to right now. In Spanish from Spain, the Pretérito Perfecto (ha empezado) is the standard tense to use with todavía no for actions tied to the present.

Does operación mean a medical surgery like it does in English?

Yes! Just like in English, la operación can refer to a medical surgery, a military mission, or a business calculation. You rely on the surrounding conversation to know exactly which type of operation is meant.