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Erious Posted 16 years ago
Vocabulary

The expression 'not until'

I listened to the dialogue below;

Man : Miguel’s going away party is on Sunday afternoon, right?

Woman : Actually, it’s not until Monday.

It means that actually, it's Monday. But I can't understand why the woman's reply means 'Actually, it's Monday.'

'not until Monday' means all except Monday; see the line

->->->until

------------l------------

monday

the negative form of until Monday is 'not until Monday'; see the line

->->->until ~~~~~

------------l------------

monday

So I guess that 'not until Monday' means the period '~~~~~'. Then the day of away party is Monday? Tuesday? Wednesday? Thursday? ...

I think I'm wrong. But I can't find the problem by myself.

Would you explain this?

THANKS IN ADVANCE
  

Top answer

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4 Answers
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Maybe the time of the party is not so long ,it is from the Sunday afternoon to the 1 o'clock of the Monday,which means the guests should leave before that time .just for your reference.
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Hi,

'Not until' is a rather idiomatic expression.



The party is on Monday. This simply states a fact.



The party is not until Monday. This means the party is on Monday. However, the use of the expression adds some "tone" to the statement.

In your example, it suggests that there is some expectation that the party is before Monday,
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Thank you for your answer.

Keeping thinking about your answer, now I can understand what you mean. Emotion: smile
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