Learn English – Understanding the meaning and usage of ‘until’

word-meaningword-usage

Which is the more common clause after the following sentence? A or B? (Or, are A and B equally common?)

Q1. She would have to wait until Wednesday,
A. so she will tell me the results on Wednesday.
B. so she will tell me the results on Thursday.

Q2. He continued to practice as a vet until 1960,
A. and he changed his job in 1960.
B. and he changed his job in 1961.

Q3. I have to study until tomorrow,
A. so I can go to the movies with you tomorrow.
B. so I can go to the movies with you the day after tomorrow.

Q4. I will work here until next year,
A. so I can change my workplace next year.
B. so I can change my workplace the year after next.

Q5. I will stay here until next month,
A. so I can visit your country next month.
B. so I can visit your country the month after next.

Q6. Our office will be closed until the 5th of May,
A. and our office will reopen on the 5th of May.
B. and our office will reopen on the 6th of May.

Q7. Tom will be away until Monday,
A. so he’ll be back on Monday.
B. so he’ll be back on Tuesday.

Do you think all the seven questions have the same answer? If you think so, then, whether the same answer is A, B, or both of them, there is a consistency in the usage of ‘until’, which is easy to understand, I think.

Even if you don’t think all the questions have the same answer, it’s not a problem for me. As long as all of you give me the SAME RESULT (for example, if all of you insist that the answers to Q1~Q5 are B but the answers to Q6~Q7 are A), then the same consistent result verifies that there is a consistency in the usage of ‘until’.

However, if each of you have different opinion on the answers, and, as a result of that, there come several different results, this is a big problem for me because it’s really hard to understand the complicated usage of ‘until’.

Best Answer

We won't have fresh strawberries available until Friday.

On Thursday we won't have fresh strawberries yet, but on Friday we will have them.

She would have to wait until Wednesday.

Her waiting will end on Wednesday.

Since we are speaking of days (which are a time-span of 24-hours), the precise moment is not specified.

But we can make until as a specific as its complement allows for.

The insurance policy is in effect until midnight of Jan 1st, 2017.

which would mean that the policy ends at the stroke of midnight.

Or as inspecific:

You can hold your breath until you're blue in the face, I'm not going to change my mind.

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