UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE CHIMBORAZO

FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS DE LA EDUCACIÓN, HUMANAS Y TECNOLOGÍAS

CARRERA DE IDIOMAS

GRAMMAR VI

“BY AND UNTIL”

RONALD MARROQUÍN

DARIO AMANCHA

2015 - 2016

BY AND UNTIL

By

We use by to talk about a deadline when something will happen before that time.

By tomorrow

By next week

By six o'clock

By Wednesday

By summer

By 2020

By August...

EXAMPLES

I'll be back by 7 o'clock.

The deadline is 7 o'clock so I promise to be back any time before 7, latest at 6:59. 

I'll have gotten my degree in English by next year.

I expect to / promise to get my degree at a time between now and next year. In other

words, I will be able to say I have my English degree when the next year comes. 

Don’t worry; you will get your books by Thursday. 

I’d better pay the phone bill. It has to be paid by tomorrow. 

She is very busy this week. She has to finish this report by Wednesday. 

They hope to build the offices by March next year. 

You will need to hand your project in by the end of next week. 

Until / Till

Until and till are the same and interchangeable. Until a newer word and is usually preferred

over till in writing and in speech. We use until to talk about something that will keep going

on for duration of time from a specific time to another.

Alan came yesterday. He will stay with us until the weekend.

Alan is with us at the moment and he is going to stay with us during the time from

now to weekend.

She is very busy this week. She won’t have any time until Wednesday. 

Dave will be on holiday until Monday. 

Yesterday he stayed in bed until 12:00. 

Sometimes we can use both by and until in a sentence but their meanings differ from one

another.

He has bad fever. He needs to be in bed until 10 o'clock.

He is already in bed and he needs to stay in bed.

He has bad fever. He needs to be in bed by 10 o'clock.

He is not in bed but for his goodness he needs to go to bed latest at 10 o'clock.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN “BY” AND “UNTIL”

WRONG

Write the report until 5 pm.

RIGHT

Write the report by 5 pm. 

Write the report until 5 pm means “Start writing the report now, continue writing it

until 5 pm, then stop writing it regardless of whether it is finished or not.”

Write the report by 5 pm means “Make sure that at 5 pm the report is written and

finished”.

As a preposition of time “by” means “on or before”.

E.g. 

We will send you the documents by Friday.

Use “by” when you refer to a deadline.

“Until” means “up to a particular time”.

E.g. 

We have until Friday to send out the documents.

Use “until” when you refer to the period of time before a deadline.

“By” is used to describe an action or event that happens on or before a particular moment.

E.g. 

We expect to know the judgment by the end of November.

“Until” is used to describe a state or situation in the period of time up to a particular

moment.

E.g. 

The court proceedings are expected to last until November.

You may think of “until” as referring to the moment a state or situation changes.

E.g. 

Comments on the draft may be submitted until 30 April 2012.

LINKOGRAPHY

Blog.harward. The difference between by and until. Taken from:

http://blog.harwardcommunications.com/2012/04/12/the-difference-between-by-and-

until/

Grammar bank. By vs Until. Taken from: http://www.grammarbank.com/by-vs-

until.html

Confusing Words. By and until. Taken from: http://www.confusing-words.com/?

toload=inner.Body_ConfusingWords&id=4132&BereichID=134&title=+%3Ca+href

%3D%3F%3EConfusing+Words%3C/a%3E+%3E+&title2=by+and+unti

Personlongman, (2003-2012 )By and until. Taken from:

http://www.pearsonlongman.com/ae/azar/grammar_ex/message_board/archive/

articles/00016.htm