Question Have you already read today's newspaper?

[hirashin]

Dear native English speakers,
I know you can say (a), but do you ever say (b) or (c)? I suppose
you might say them if you are surprised.
(a) Have you read today's newspaper yet?
(b) Have you already read today's newspaper?
(c) Have you read today's newspaper already?

Thanks in advance.
Hirashin

 

[diligentcircle]

Most people probably wouldn't use B because it sounds repetitive (repeating the same sound so close together is usually uncomfortable in English and can be the source of tongue-twisters), but all are grammatically sound.

They don't convey surprise necessarily. Surprise is conveyed by tone in speech, or explicitly with interjections like "wow", "wait", and "oh".

 

[hirashin]

Thanks for the help, Julimaruchan. Is it that (a) and (c) would be used interchangeably?

 

[diligentcircle]

They can be. "Already" usually implies doing something early, but exactly the meaning of that implication depends on context.

 

[hirashin]

Thanks, Julimaruchan.

 

[SusuKacangSoya]

(a) Have you read today's newspaper yet?
(c) Have you read today's newspaper already?

I think us Malaysians use (c) a lot more than (a). :emoji_laughing: (At least, my family does)
But they're close enough that they're interchangeable.

If I needed to differentiate them..
To me, (a) seems to ask if they've begun reading, whereas (c) seems to ask if they've finished.

Both imply that the person regularly reads the newspaper, though, to warrant being asked that.
With that in mind, (a) also seems to imply that you confidently expect them to read it at some point - whereas (c) more of just asks if they've read the paper.

These are probably just personal to me, though, and/or wrong. And they're just slight nuances. I'd say that, on a significant level, they're equivalent.