not … until,until
A.until表示动作、状态的持续,强调“一直到……为止”,或强调某个动作或状态一直持续到另一个动作或状态出现之前.常与表示延续性动作的动词连用.
如：* I waited until three o’clock,but he didn’t come.* He lived with his parents until he graduated from college.
B.not … until表示“到……为止；直到……才”,常与表示瞬间性动作的动词连用.
如：* The noise of the street didn’t stop until midnight.* The children didn’t come home until it was dark.* I didn’t know the truth until you told me.
1、意义上有所区别
not until意思是直到什么时候才会去做某事,否则不去做.
until一直到某个时候一直做某事.
2、所属句中的动词属性有区加
根据1不难理解,not until 所修饰的动词不见得是连续性的,而until 修饰的动则须是连续性的.
3、句法功能上有区别
until一般不放在句首,后面跟时间词或表示时间条件的状语或从句连用 .
not until:可放句首,但主句要用倒装.
Example:
Not until 1986 was it that table tennis was accepted as a regular part of the Olympic Games.
另外,谈一下till 和until
till和until都可以用作连词和介词,用于肯定句和否定句.用于肯定句时,只与持续性动词连用,有一个not...until的形式是固定的表示"到...为止".用于否定句时,通常与瞬间动词连用,也可与持续性动词连用,表示"直到...才"的意思.这两个词一般情况下可以相互换用.例如：
We waited for him until/till six o'clock.我们等他到一直等到六点钟.
The pupils will not begin the meeting till/until their class supervisor comes.学生们等到班主任一到就开始开会.
They didn't talk until/till the interpreter came.直到译员到,他们才交谈.
He did not go to bed until/till he had made sure that nothing was wrong with the pipes.他检查水管,确准它们没有毛病,才去睡觉.
当until用于句首时,一般不能用till代替.在以not开始的从句或短语里,till一般也不可代替until,而且这种句式要用倒装语序.例如：
Until the last minute of the match we kept playing.直到比赛的最后一分钟,我们仍然坚持奋战.
Not until he had finished his work did he go home.他直到把工作做完,才回家去.
不给我加分吗.