proper use of until and not until

[al7upad]

Should I use " until " or " not until " for these sentences?


Our reality could have been our fatality [ until or not until ] the Creator sustained
our intra-uterine existence in the womb of our mothers until we were born.



Our children could have been killed [ until or not until ] the police came to rescue them.

[bhaisahab]

Should I use " until " or " not until " for these sentences?


Our reality could have been our fatality [ until or not until ] the Creator sustained
our intra-uterine existence in the womb of our mothers until we were born.



Our children could have been killed [ until or not until ] the police came to rescue them.

Welcome to the forums.
"not until" is wrong in both sentences. Even with "until" they don't make a great deal of sense.

[BobK]

I think the OP's problem is this:

Our children could have been killed until the police came to rescue them.

means more or less the same as

Not until the police came to rescue them were our children safe.


al7upad: This" 'not until' + inverted verb" structure is quite formal. If you use it (you seldom if ever have to) the rule is this:"The word 'until' goes with the state that precedes the action (in this case, they were in danger); if you use 'not until', change the state to the one that follows the action (they were safe)."

b