Expressing "all the way until" with "zhidao"

直到 (zhídào) can only be used to describe the past, acting like the English phrase, "all the way until." It can be used in an affirmative or negative form, expressing that something has taken a while or is late.

Affirmative Form

Structure

Examples

直到十二点半，我才做完作业。 Zhídào shí'èr diǎn bàn, wǒ cái zuò wán zuòyè. It wasn't until twelve thirty in the morning that I finished homework.
直到半个月以后，我的感冒才好。 Zhídào bàn gè yuè yǐhòu, wǒ de gǎnmào 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 zhídào shíbā suì cái jiàndào qīnshēng fùmǔ. 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 zhídào dàxué bìyè cái kāishǐ dúlì shēnghuó. 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。 Zhídào qù le Běijīng, tā cái zhīdào yīgèrén zài dà chéngshì duō xīnkǔ. It wasn't until he went to Beijing that he understood how hard it is to be alone in a big city.

Negative Form

Structure

Examples

直到他死，我们都没见过。 Zhídào tā sǐ, wǒmen dōu méi jiàn guo. We didn't meet until he passed away.
他们是同学，但是直到毕业，都没说过话。 Tāmen shì tóngxué, dànshì zhídào bìyè, dōu méi shuō guo huà. They are classmates. But they had never spoken until they graduated.
直到电影结束，他都没来。 Zhídào diànyǐng jiéshù, tā dōu méi lái. He didn't show up until the movie was over.
直到我弟弟上大学，他都不会洗衣服。 Zhídào wǒ dìdi shàng dàxué, tā dōu bù huì xǐ yīfu. My younger brother couldn't wash clothes until he went to college.
我认识他一年多了，直到现在，我都不知道他的全名。 Wǒ rènshi tā yī nián duō le, zhídào xiànzài, wǒ dōu bù zhīdào tā de quánmíng. I've known him for over a year, but I still don't know his full name.

Expressing "all the way until" with "zhidao"

Contents

Affirmative Form

Structure

Examples

Negative Form

Structure

Examples

See also

Sources and further reading

Books