Business & Sprachen Blog

By and Until; two little words that many people have problems with, causing misunderstandings with native speakers.

If you want to say something is happening continuously, up to a certain time, you use Until. This word is always linked to something continuous, occurring without a break.

I’ll be at the office until 5.

Wait here until I get back.

I was so lazy yesterday, I stayed in bed until midday.

In these sentences the subject remains in the same place (the office, here, in bed) up to a certain time (5, when I get back, midday).

By, on the other hand, is used to talk about an action which happens at some point. The key here is that the single action will happen at some point, no later than this time.

You have to pay that bill by the 10th.

I’m not paying every minute of every day up to the 10th. It isn’t a continuous action. It means one single action, which will be carried out at some point, not later than the 10th.

I’m going to visit Melissa for a while but I’ll be back by 6 for dinner.

Maybe I’ll return an hour before dinner, a half hour or even 5 minutes before, but I will definitely be here at 6, at the latest.

If you want me to get you a ticket, let me know by lunchtime on Friday.

You can tell me at anytime tomorrow, Thursday or Friday morning but you have to tell me know later than lunchtime.

It’s easy really. Until is for a something that is continuous (working, waiting, lying in bed).  By is for a single action (finish a project, return home, ask for a ticket) that can occur at any point but no later than a certain time point.

Well, by now, I’m sure you’ve got that grammar point under control and you’ll be using those two words correctly until the end of time.

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Nice to meet you – we all know this as the standard way of greeting a new acquaintance. We can also say pleased to meet you, great to meet you, or even it’s a pleasure to meet you which sounds very formal and would be perfect for that first introduction to the company’ new CEO. It works equally well at that first meeting with your potential mother-in-law, if you really want to make a good impression. But beware, these expressions are only used for initial contact.  After that, we say nice to see you again or it’s lovely to see you again or something like that, but important here is the use of see and not meet.

With close friends or colleagues you can say I haven’t seen you in ages, Long time no see or even ‘Hello, stranger!’ which really means where have you been all this time? Or why haven’t you been here lately?

And finally, what about the greeting How do you do? (The answer for which, strangely, is how do you do?) Do people actually use it today? Not really. It sounds very old-fashioned. Stick to nice to meet you and you can’t go wrong.

That’s all from me. Don’t be a stranger!

Acquaintance                        a slight knowledge or friendship with someone

Pleasure                                a feeling of satisfaction or enjoyment

CEO                                       Chief Executive Officer

Mother-in-law                        the mother of one’s husband or wife

Stranger                                a person you do not know or are not familiar with

Actually                                 the truth or facts of a situation. really

Old-fashioned                       in a style no longer current or common. Not modern

Stick to/with                           persevere or continue

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