PrepositionsHSK 4
Expressing "all the way until" with 直到
直到 ... 才 ... means 'not until' and emphasizes that an action only took place at a specific point. 直到 introduces the time or event, and 才 marks the delayed action. Ensure 才 appears after the time phrase, not before 直到.
Structure
直到 + Time/Event ， + Subj. + 才 + ...
Subj. + 直到 + Time/Event + 才 + ...
The subject can appear before 直到 or after the time phrase.
Examples
- 直到十二点半，我才做完作业。Zhí dào shí èr diǎn bàn, wǒ cái zuò wán zuò yè.It wasn't until twelve thirty in the morning that I finished my homework.
- 直到半个月以后，我的感冒才好。Zhí dào bàn gè yuè yǐ hòu, wǒ de gǎn mào cái hǎo.It took me half a month to recover from the cold.
- 她直到十八岁才见到亲生父母。Tā zhí dào shí bā suì cái jiàn dào qīn shēng fù mǔ.It wasn't until she was eighteen that she met her biological parents.
- 我直到大学毕业才开始独立生活。Wǒ zhí dào dà xué bì yè cái kāi shǐ dú lì shēng huó.It wasn't until I graduated from college that I started living independently.
- 直到去了北京，他才知道一个人在大城市多辛苦。Zhí dào qù le běi jīng, tā cái zhī dào yí gè rén zài dà chéng shì duō xīn kǔ.It wasn't until he went to Beijing that he understood how hard it is to be alone in a big city.