English grammar tips and tricks – 1
‘Not’ is never used with ‘until’
Example:
Incorrect: I will talk until you do not speak.
Correct: I will talk until you speak.
Until
Until is a preposition and a conjunction. Until is often shortened to till or ’til. Till and ’til are more informal and we don’t usually use them in formal writing.
Until sentence example
We went to bed and slept until morning.
At least wait until the doctor sees her.
I was talking with Morino until almost midnight.
I didn’t know what to tell you until then.
The woodman stirred the fire until the flames leaped high and the sparks flew out of the roof hole.
Until: typical errors
- We don’t use until to talk about things that will happen before a particular time or deadline; we use by:
All applications must be received by Friday, 26 June 2009.
Not: … until Friday, 26 June 2009. - We don’t use until or till to talk about quantity; we use up to:
The theatre can hold up to two hundred people.
Not: The theatre can hold until two hundred people. - We don’t use until or till to talk about distance; we use as far as:
We had to drive as far as Liverpool for the last hockey match that I played.
Not: We had to drive until Liverpool … - Take care to spell until with only one l at the end: not ‘untill’.
