Learn English – Can we use “yet” in conditional (and affirmative) sentence

conditional-constructionsword-in-contextword-usage

I knew that:

  • yet should be used in negative sentences and questions.
  • still should be used in affirmative sentences.
  • We can use yet in affirmative sentences containing this pattern:have yet to

However, I was reading a passage and came across with this sentence:

So much sentimentality is attached to the rose in popular culture that it is difficult to separate the original mythological and folkloric beliefs from the emotional excess that surrounds the flower. Yet if we look into the beliefs, we find that the rose is much more than the mere symbol of romantic love invoked by every minor poet and painter.

the author continues to enumerate several different meanings or 
connotations of the "rose" in different cultures.

  1. Is it grammatical to use "yet" or we should use "still"?

  2. What would be the difference if one put "still" there?

Best Answer

Yet can be used as an adverb as well as a co-ordinating conjunction. Here it is a conjunction.

As a conjunction yet is similar in meaning to but. But is a co-ordinating conjunction used to contrast two statements.

He tried to book a holiday on Bali, but he didn’t have enough money to pay for it.

We use yet as the preferred alternative to but when we want to emphasise that contrast to achieve a stronger effect:

She can play the piano very well, yet she can’t read music at all.

You can put and in front of yet when it is used in this way or use even so as an alternative to yet or and yet:

She can play the piano very well, and yet she can’t read music at all.

However and nevertheless are sometimes used as more formal alternatives to yet:

He had not slept for three nights. Nevertheless, he insisted on going into work the following day.

In colloquial spoken English but still or still are used as less formal alternatives to yet:

It rained every day. Still, they managed to enjoy themselves.

He can be very annoying at times, but we still love him.

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