until是日常生活中常用的一个表示时间的词汇，它作介词或连词，意思是“到…时;直到…为止”。 till和until意思相同. Till历史更悠久，但一般为非正式用语，用的相对较少。
They played football until/ till it's dark.
他们踢足球踢到天黑。
I didn't go to bed until/ till I finished reading the book.
我直到读完这本书才睡觉。
I'm not gonna say a word until/ till I get a lawyer.
在见到律师之前我一句话也不会说。
在使用until时，有时候我们会对（主）句中里究竟是肯定句还是否定句产生困惑，究竟是用until还是not ... until？ 要搞清楚这个问题，关键是要看（主）句中的谓语动词是短暂性动词还是延续性动词。
在句首的时候，只用until，因为until比till显得郑重其事，Not until 开始的句子，需要倒装，把not until 放在句首，本身具有强调作用，故而还要用比较正式的until。
1，（主）句中的谓语动词是延续性动词
肯定句句型，“到……为止”，表示动作一直持续到所说时间为止。如:
Until the last day of the season, we had been working there for a whole year.
到这个季节的最后一天，我们已经在那里工作了一整年。
They drove on until they reached a small town.
他们开着车直到到达一个小镇。
I'll stay here until the rain stops.
我会呆在这儿直到雨停。
We lived in the countryside until two decades ago.
二十年前我们一直住在乡下。
They kept singing and dancing until midnight.
他们一直唱歌跳舞到午夜。
I have no idea about it until now.
迄今为止，我对此一无所知。
当然，（主）句中的谓语动词是延续性动词，也可以用否定句，但表达的是不同意思。
I surfed the net until mother came back.
我上网冲浪直到妈妈回来。
I did not surf the net until mother came back.
直到妈妈回来我才上网。
2，（主）句中的谓语动词是短暂性动词
否定句句型中，“直到……才”，表示动作从until表示的时间才开始。
Don't/Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.
今日事，今日毕。
He didn't realize it was a big mistake until years later.
直到几年后他才意识到这是个大错误。
I won't leave until I finish my work.
我不完成工作就不走。
The train didn't arrive until two hours later.
火车两小时后才到达。
I never wake up until the alarm goes off.
我向来要到闹钟响了才醒来。
do A until B，意思就是：在B发生之前，A这件事情需要一直做；也就是，等到B发生以后，就不需要做A了
而not until的结构只是反过来了：
not until B，do A，意思句式；在B发生以后，做A；在B发生以前，不要做A。其实就是：not do A until B。
注意，否定句中until常常可以和before意思相似，所以可用before互换。
Most children do not start school until/before they are six years old.
大多数孩子六岁才开始上学。
3，not until 状语在句首，（主）句子要用倒装句，如：
Not until the end of the day did they give up searching.
直到一天结束，他们才放弃寻找。
Not until you apologize will I leave this room.
你不道歉，我就不走了。
Not until we got home did the rain stop.
直到我们到家雨才停。
Not until mom had come back did he go sleep.
直到妈妈回来，他才睡。
注意：
有时候，我们还用“It's not until ... that...”，这是强调句，强调的是not until ...状语；（主）句子要恢复陈述句：
普通句：He didn’t go to bed until/till his wife came back.
强调句：It was not until his wife came back that he went to bed.
直到他老婆回来，她才去睡觉。
普通句：The rain didn’t stop until we got home.
强调句：It was Not until we got home that the rain stopped.
直到我们到家雨才停。
普通句：Not until 1998 did he return to his hometown.
强调句：It was not until 1998 that he returned to his hometown.
直到 1998 年他才回到家乡
普通句：Not until Father came back did we begin to have supper last night.
强调句：It was not until Father came back that we began to have supper last night.
昨晚直到父亲回来，我们才开始吃晚饭。
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