三、till, until, 和not….until

　　1．肯定句：主句謂語(yǔ)動(dòng)詞必須是延續(xù)性動(dòng)詞，主句、從句都是肯定式，意為“某動(dòng)作一直延續(xù)到某時(shí)間點(diǎn)為止”。如：

　　Son: Remember, Dad, Thomas Edison got bad grades in school, too.

　　Father: Stay in your room until you invented the light bulb.

　　兒子：記住，爸爸，愛(ài)迪生上學(xué)時(shí)成績(jī)也很差。

　　父親：呆在你房間里，直到發(fā)明出燈泡。

　　Whenever I feel like exercise, I lie down until the feeling passes.

　　每當(dāng)我想鍛煉時(shí)，我就躺下直到這種感覺(jué)消失。

　　注：這個(gè)人是真不想鍛煉。

　　I was an atheist[無(wú)神論者] until I realized I was GOD.

　　在我認(rèn)識(shí)到我是上帝以前我是一個(gè)無(wú)神論者。

　　注：這種話應(yīng)該是象尼采一類(lèi)的狂人說(shuō)的。

　　2．否定句：主句謂語(yǔ)動(dòng)詞必須是非延續(xù)性動(dòng)詞，從句為肯定式，意為“某動(dòng)作直到某時(shí)間才開(kāi)始”。如：

　　I am convinced that both my long age and exceptional health are to be explained by

　　an obvious facts: I never touched a cigarette, a drink, or a girl until I was almost ten

　　years old.

　　我深深相信我的長(zhǎng)壽和我格外健康可以由一個(gè)顯而易見(jiàn)的事實(shí)來(lái)解釋?zhuān)何覐膩?lái)沒(méi)有接觸過(guò)一根煙、一口酒、一個(gè)女孩子，在我差不多10歲以前。

　�。ㄎ抑钡讲畈欢�10歲才接觸煙、酒、女孩子。）

　　Horse owner: This horse is eight-years- old and he’s never raced before.

　　Jockey: How come?

　　Horse Owner: Well, we couldn’t catch him until he was seven.

　　馬主：這匹馬8歲了，他以前從來(lái)沒(méi)有參加過(guò)比賽。

　　職業(yè)騎師：怎么會(huì)呢？

　　馬主：直到他7歲我們才抓住它。

　　3．Till不可以置于句首，而until可以。

　　Until the horse was seven we couldn’t catch him.

　　4．Not…until句型中的強(qiáng)調(diào)和倒裝。

　　It was not until he was seven that we could catch him .（強(qiáng)調(diào)句型）

　　Not until he was seven could we catch him.（not until置于句首，主句要倒裝）