Words That Turn Up Everywhere

English spends four adverbs on a distinction Portuguese makes with two words and a rule about where the negation goes. Ainda is the one that has not changed, já the one that has: ainda estou aqui is I am still here, já estou aqui is I am here already. So far it is tidy. The difficulty starts when não joins them, because the sentence then turns on which of the two the negation follows. Ainda não acabei, the example in this list, is I have not finished yet. Já não moro lá is I do not live there any more. One word apart, and the two are opposites: ainda não looks forward to a change that is still coming, já não looks back at one that has already happened. « Yet » and « any more » do exactly that work in English, but they are separate words with their own rules about where they may stand, whereas ainda and já never move from the front. And in a question já covers « yet » as well: já chegou? is has he arrived yet, not has he already arrived.