Learn English – What’s the difference between until and until after

prepositions

As in "The sun doesn't rise until after dawn." Would the meaning of the sentence be changed if we used until?
I found on a website that 'After' is just an intensifier or clarifier.

Best Answer

The meaning of until changes if the time being referenced is a period of time. For instance, compare: "wait until tomorrow" with "wait until after tomorrow". This is because a period of time is defined by two events: its beginning and end. And "until" works in such a way that "until tomorrow" is referenced the start of tomorrow, while "after tomorrow" is referenced to tomorrow's end.

The meaning of until does not change if a single precise event is referenced, rather than a range of time. The reason is that "X not until Y" implies that event Y happens first, and then X. And that is exactly the same as X happening after Y; i.e. not until after Y. Similarly, the positive version "X until Y" implies that event Y cancels X. But event Y has to occur first, causing the cancellation of X. In other words, the cancellation of X takes place after event Y. The implicit causality makes "after" redundant.

For instance, "wait until the light turns green" isn't meaningfully different from "wait until after the light turns green". Canceling the wait, and proceeding through the intersection is triggered by seeing the green light, and seeing the green light takes place after it turns green. It is plausible that "after" serves as an intensifier, such that "wait until after the light turns green" emphasizes the need to wait properly and not move before the change. Also consider a sentence like, "In a bankruptcy, unsecured creditors don't get paid until after the preferred creditors, if at all". The "after" here seems to be quite necessary, not only for emphasis but because the unsecured creditors getting paid is not caused by or triggered by the preferred creditors getting paid. There is a due process external to both of them which imposes an order.

About dawn, it is an extended event, like "tomorrow". Dawn does not begin when the sun comes up; dawn ends at that point, which is called "sunrise".

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