Is she here yet?/Has she been here yet?

Question

Is she here yet?Has she been here yet?Do they mean the same?Is the post office closed yet?Has the post office been closed yet?Do they mean the same? I couldn't see the difference between them, would you please help me? Thank you very much!

Mr Wordy · Accepted Answer

Is she here yet? -- Asks if she has arrived and is here now.
Has she been here yet? -- Asks if she has been here at some time or times in the past. It doesn't matter if she's here now, and in fact, the implication is that she probably isn't.

Is the post office closed yet? -- Asks if the Post Office has closed and is closed now. (Edit: "Has the Post Office closed yet" is arguably more correct.)
Has the post office been closed yet? -- Theoretically possible, but it's unlikely that anyone would ever want to say this. It asks if the Post Office has been closed at some time or times in the past.

Edit: Sorry, I seem to be making a bit of a mess of this. (Out of context, it's difficult sometimes to immediately think of all the ways that a phrase might be used!) Has the post office been closed yet? could alternatively be asking if someone has closed the Post Office (and it's closed now, possibly permanently). This is also a slightly unusual thing to say. You might say it if for some reason you wanted to emphasise the action of closing; for example, if it was being shut down by trading standards authorities, or something of that nature.

Tuongvan · Answer

Hi Mr Wordy,
I'm still confused about your explanation about YET used with the present tense:
Is she here yet? -- Asks if she has arrived and is here now.
If she has arrived and is here now why should we ask this sentence ?

I would be grateful if you could give further explanation about this case.

Thank you in advance

RayH · Answer

TuongvanIf she has arrived and is here now why should we ask this sentence ?

Sorry to **** in, but this seems like a question I can handle without causing too much unnecessary confusion. Say you work in a large office or factory. Someone could easily be on the premises without your having seen them. Thus, you might ask someone this question.

Marius Hancu · Answer

Is she here yet? [the status/situation now
Has she been here yet? [the history until this time

Is she here yet?/Has she been here yet?

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