until引导时间状语(从句)的用法在中学教材中出现频率很高，高考试题对此也有较为全面的考查。请看下面几个具有代表性的例子：

　　①My uncle ________ until he was forty-five. (2000 上海)

　　A. married

　　B. didn’t marry

　　C. was not marrying

　　D. would marry

　　②A good storyteller must be able to hold his listeners’curiosity ________ he reaches the end of the story. (2003 上海)

　　A. when B. unless C. after D. until

　　③It was not ________ she took off her dark glasses ________ I realized she was a famous film star. (NMET 1992)

　　A. until; when B. when; that C. until; that D. when; then

　　④Not until all the fish died in the river ________ how serious the pollution was. (NMET 1995)

　　A. did the villagers realize

　　B. the villagers realized

　　C. the villagers did realize

　　D. didn't the villagers realize

　　上面四题(答案分别为B，D，C，A)从不同的侧面考查了until的用法。下面我们一起对此进行分类总结。

　　一、until的普通用法(例①、②)

　　1. 用于否定句, 修饰非延续性动词, 表示该动作的开始时间。“not...until...”一般译为“直到……才……”。例如：

　　He didn’t leave until the clock struck twelve. 直到12点他才离开。

　　2. 用于肯定句, 修饰延续性动词，表示该动作或状态的终止时间。until有“直到”之意。例如：

　　I’ll wait until he comes back. 我会一直等到他回来。

　　注：使用until需特别注意的问题——until引导的时间状语(从句)前不可有表示“段时间”和“段距离”的状语。例如：

　　1)我等了两天，一直等到见到他。

　　不可说：I waited for two days until I met him.

　　可说：I had waited for two days before I met him.

　　2)我们向东走了一百公里，直到见到水和草。

　　不可说：We walked eastward for 100 kilometers until we saw water and grass.

　　可说：We had walked eastward for 100 kilometers before we saw water and grass.

　　二、对until引导的时间状语(从句)的强调(例③、④)

　　1. 强调肯定句中的until时间状语(从句), 一般套用“It is / was until... that...”句型。例如：

　　They worked until one o’clock this morning.

　　→ It was until one o’clock this morning that they worked. 他们一直工作到今天凌晨一点。

　　2. 强调否定句中的until时间状语(从句), 可套用“It is/ was not until... that...”句型，也可套用“Not until...”倒装句型。例如：

　　He didn’t finish his work until yesterday.

　　→It was not until yesterday that he finished his work.

　　→Not until yesterday did he finish his work. 直到昨天他才完成工作。

　　He didn’t go to school until he was ten.

　　→It was not until he was ten that he went to school.

　　→Not until he was ten did he go to school. 直到十岁他才开始上学。

　　三、高考盲点——until引导的时间状语从句中的省略

　　当从句主语与主句主语一致，且从句中含动词be的形式时，从句主语与动词be可一并省略。例如：

　　He didn’t speak until (he was) spoken to. 直到有人跟他说话他才开口。

　　(文/刘树霞； 英语辅导报高二普及版 04~05学年度第23期；版权归英语辅导报社所有，独家网络合作伙伴新浪教育，未经许可，不得以任何形式进行转载。)