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<title>Expressing "all the way until" with "zhidao"</title>
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<h1>Expressing "all the way until" with "zhidao"
</h1>

<p>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.</p>

<h2>Contents</h2>

  
<div class="contents"><ul><li><span style="font-size: 20px;">1 Affirmative Form </span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-size: 20px;">1.1 Structure </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 20px;">1.2 Examples </span></li>
</ul>
<li><span style="font-size: 20px;">2 Negative Form </span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-size: 20px;">2.1 Structure </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 20px;">2.2 Examples </span></li>
</ul>
<li><span style="font-size: 20px;">3 See also </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 20px;">4 Sources and further reading </span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-size: 20px;">4.1 Books</span></li>
</ul>
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<h2>Affirmative Form</h2>

<h3>Structure</h3>

<div class="deux">直到 + Time / Event ，Subj. + 才 ⋯⋯</div>

<p>This subject can also be place before 直到.</p>

<h3>Examples</h3>

<div class="exemple"><ul><li><span style="font-size: 20px;">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. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 20px;">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. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 20px;">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. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 20px;">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. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 20px;">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.</span><br/></li>
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<h2>Negative Form
</h2>
<h3>Structure</h3>

<div class="deux">直到 + Time / Event ，Subj. + 都 + 不 / 没 ⋯⋯</div>

<h3>Examples</h3>

<div class="exemple"><ul><li><span style="font-size: 20px;">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. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 20px;">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. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 20px;">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. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 20px;">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.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 20px;"> 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.</span><br/></li>
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<h3>See also
</h3>
<div class="See-also"><ul><li><span style="font-size: 20px;">Expressing "when" with "dengdao" </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 20px;">Complement with "dao"</span><br/></li>
</ul>
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<h3>Sources and further reading</h3>

<h4>Books</h4>
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