al, nog, nog niet and niet meer: already, still, not yet, no longer

Dutch uses four short expressions to show whether something has happened, continues or has stopped. Heb je al een huisarts? — Nee, nog niet. (Do you already have a family doctor? — No, not yet.) Werk je nog in Leiden? — Nee, ik werk daar niet meer. (Do you still work in Leiden? — No, I no longer work there.)

Choose al or nog niet when you ask whether something has begun or happened; choose nog or niet meer when you ask whether it continues now.

• Ask with al when you expect that something may have happened by now: Heeft Fatima al betaald? (Has Fatima paid already?) A negative short answer is Nee, nog niet. (No, not yet.)
• Ask with nog when you want to know whether a situation continues: Is de apotheek nog open? (Is the pharmacy still open?) If it has closed, answer Nee, hij is niet meer open. (No, it is no longer open.)

If the positive noun would take een or no article, use geen rather than niet. This creates two useful frames: nog geen + noun for not yet any, and geen + noun + meer for no longer any.

Keep the pieces in this order. For not yet, say nog niet or nog geen; do not reverse them for this meaning. With geen ... meer, the noun sits between the two words: We hebben geen melk meer. (We do not have any milk left.) For more general placement rules, see where niet goes.

With a length of time or quantity, al can present it as earlier, longer or more than expected, while pas can present it as only or not much yet: Nora woont hier al zes jaar. (Nora has lived here for six years already.) Leo woont hier pas twee maanden. (Leo has lived here for only two months.) The number itself does not decide the word; the speaker's point of view does.

• Do not use niet nog for not yet: say De bus is nog niet vertrokken. (The bus has not left yet.)
• Do not put meer before an indefinite noun negated by geen: say Ik heb geen werk meer, not Ik heb geen meer werk.
• Do not replace geen with niet before an indefinite noun: We hebben nog geen antwoord (We do not have an answer yet), not nog niet een antwoord.

Review the choice between niet and geen, the position of niet, and indefinite people and things. The page on indefinite quantity and all covers related quantity words.