Joern Matthias
Junior Member
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2008
- Member Type
- Student or Learner
- Native Language
- German
- Home Country
- Germany
- Current Location
- Germany
Hello everybody,
I hope all of you had a wonderful time celebrating Christmas. I was able to have a good time and relax.
I have two questions about until/by in the following examples, the first sentence (a) of which is to describe one single completed action each:
Considering the context and the simple past tense in the first sentence of each example, is only 'by' possible?
Can I use the simple past tense in the second sentence (b) of each example instead of the past continous without much difference in meaning if the action is not finished completely?
1a) Yesterday, I cleaned my room until/by 7 pm.
1b) Yesterday, I was cleaning my room until 7 pm.
2a) Yesterday, I washed my car until my wife came home/by the time my wife came home.
2b) Yesterday, I was washing my car until my wife came home.
3a) Yesterday, I drank a whole sixpack of beer until/by midnight.
3b) Yesterday, I was drinking a sixpack of beer until midnight.
Thank you for your answers and to all of you a happy new year!
Greetings from Bavaria
Joern
I hope all of you had a wonderful time celebrating Christmas. I was able to have a good time and relax.
I have two questions about until/by in the following examples, the first sentence (a) of which is to describe one single completed action each:
Considering the context and the simple past tense in the first sentence of each example, is only 'by' possible?
Can I use the simple past tense in the second sentence (b) of each example instead of the past continous without much difference in meaning if the action is not finished completely?
1a) Yesterday, I cleaned my room until/by 7 pm.
1b) Yesterday, I was cleaning my room until 7 pm.
2a) Yesterday, I washed my car until my wife came home/by the time my wife came home.
2b) Yesterday, I was washing my car until my wife came home.
3a) Yesterday, I drank a whole sixpack of beer until/by midnight.
3b) Yesterday, I was drinking a sixpack of beer until midnight.
Thank you for your answers and to all of you a happy new year!
Greetings from Bavaria
Joern
Last edited: