Sunday 1 April 2007

Do it until 2:00...

Prepositions are the bane of virtually all language students (those of languages that have prepositions anyway). One of the most commonly misused by Germans is "until". If something must be completed before a specified period of time, use "by", not "until"

Standard: "We need to deliver the presentation by 2:00."
Nonstandard: "We need to deliver the presentation until 2:00."

This one is particularly insidious as it doesn't typically create much ambiguity (native speakers will understand it perfectly). However, strictly speaking, to do something "until" a certain time means you do it constantly until that time. Saying "We must eat lunch until 14:00." means "We must continue eating lunch (without stopping) from now until 14:00.".

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