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Lucas21c Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

Up to vs until

Could you tell me which one is right between the following (A) and (B)?
Thank you.

I have to finish [ (A) up to chapter three / (B) until chapter three ]. It's my homework assigned today by my history teacher.
  

Top answer

(B) sounds wrong. (A) would be accepted in colloquial English. I don't think it looks great in formal writing.

— GPY

  • (B) sounds wrong.
  • (A) would be accepted in colloquial English.
  • I don't think it looks great in formal writing.
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6 Answers
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(B) sounds wrong. (A) would be accepted in colloquial English. I don't think it looks great in formal writing.
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If so, how can I make (A) more natural? Could you give me your correction?
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I didn't mean to imply that (A) is unnatural. It just feels a bit loose to me for formal usage. It also seems slightly ambiguous as to whether chapter three itself is included or excluded. An alternative would be "I have to read to the end of chapter three" (or chapter two, depending on what you mean).
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Does 'The teacher has to teach to the end of chapter three in this semester' also sound okay?
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lucas21cDoes 'The teacher has to teach to the end of chapter three in this semester' also sound okay?
Yes, that seems OK.

The use of "semester" is region-specific. In the UK, for example, "term" is the usual, um, term.
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Then, are both of 'up to' and 'to' acceptable in the above sentence?
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