By and until, By the time...
A. By (+ a time) ='not later
than':
* I posted the letter today,
so they should receive it by Monday. (= on or before Monday, not later than
Monday)
* We'd better hurry. We have
to be at home by 5 o'clock. (=at or before 5 o'clock, not later than 5 o'clock)
* Where's Sue? She should be
here by now. (=now or before now - so she should have arrived already)
You cannot use until with this
meaning:
* Tell me by Friday whether or
not you can come to the party. (not 'Tell me until Friday')
B. We use until (or till) to
say bow long a situation continues:
* 'Shall we go now?' 'No,
let's wait until (or till) it stops raining.'
* I couldn't get up this
morning. I stayed in bed until half past ten.
* I couldn't get up this
morning. I didn't get up until half past ten.
Compare until and by:
#1 until
Something continues until a
time in the future:
* Fred will be away until
Monday. (so he'll be back on Monday)
* I'll be working until 11.
30. (so I'll stop working at 11.30)
#2 by
Something happens by a time in
the future:
* Fred will be back by Monday.
(= he'll be back not later than Monday)
* I'll have finished my work
by 11. 30. (I'll finish my work not later than 11. 30)
C. You can say 'by the time
something happens'. Study these examples:
* It's not worth going
shopping now. By the time we get to the shops, they will be closed. (= the
shops will
close between now and the time
we get there)
* (from a letter) I'm flying
to the United States this evening. So by the time you receive this letter, I'll
be in
New York. (= I will arrive in
New York between now and the time you receive this letter)
* Hurry up! By the time we get
to the cinema, the film will already have started.
You can say 'by the time
something happened"(for the past):
* Jane's car broke down on the
way to the party last night. By the time she arrived, most of the other guests
had gone. (= it took her a
long time to get to the party and most of the guests went home during this
time)
* I had a lot of work to do
yesterday evening. I was very tired by the time I finished. (= it took me a
long
time to do the work and I
became more and more tired during this time)
* We went to the cinema last
night. It took us a long time to find somewhere to park the car. By the time we
got to the cinema, the film
had already started.
Also by then or by that time:
* Jane finally arrived at the
party at midnight, but by then (or by that time), most of the guests had gone.
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