since
until
We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.
Non possiamo mai ottenere la pace nel mondo esterno finché non facciamo la pace con noi stessi.
– Dalai Lama
Non possiamo mai ottenere la pace nel mondo esterno finché non facciamo la pace con noi stessi.
– Dalai Lama
✓ Until last year she was in good health.
✗ *Since* last year she was in good health.
Fino all’anno scorso era in buona salute.
Some Italian learners of English mix up these two words. Until corresponds to fino a or finché non in Italian, while since corresponds to da or da quando.
Some more examples with until:
✓ The identity of the murderer isn’t revealed until the last page. (= fino a)
L’identità dell’assassino non si svela fino all’ultima pagina.
✓ Let’s wait here until it stops. (= finché non)
Aspettiamo qua finché non smette.
Some more examples with since:
✓ Sorry, I’m a bit tired. I’ve been on my feet since six o’clock this morning. (= da)
✓ He’s been depressed since he lost his job. (= da quando)
JUST A NOTE: notice that the verb after until is affirmative in English, and not negative, like in Italian. See until: ✓ until + AFFIRMATIVE ✗ until + NEGATIVE
Now try the quiz below! There are TEN answers. The pass mark is 90% (9 out of 10). Click on the blue arrows to go to the next or previous question. You can check your answers immediately or when you’ve finished the quiz.