Page 252 - English Grammar in Use

Unit
120 by and until by the time …

A by … = not later than:
I sent the documents today, so they should arrive
by Monday.
(= on or before Monday, not later than Monday)
We’d better hurry. We have to be home by 5 o’clock.
(= at or before 5 o’clock, not later than 5 o’clock)

Where’s Sarah? She should be here by now.
(= now or before now – so she should already be here)

This milk has to be used
by 14 August.

B We use until (or till) to say how long a situation continues:
a: Shall we go now?
B: No, let’s wait until it stops raining. or … till it stops raining.
⎧ I stayed in bed until half past ten.
I was very tired this morning. ⎨
⎩ I didn’t get up until half past ten.
Compare until and by:
Something continues until a time in the future: Something happens by a time in the future:
Joe will be away until Monday. Joe will be back by Monday.
(so he’ll be back on Monday) (= not later than Monday)
I’ll be working until 11.30. I’ll have finished my work by 11.30.
(so I’ll stop working at 11.30) (= I’ll finish it not later than 11.30)

C You can say ‘by the time something happens’:
It’s too late to go to the bank now. By the time we get there, it will be closed.
(= it will close between now and the time we get there)

You’ll need plenty of time at the airport. By the time you check in and go through security,
it will be time for your flight.
(= check-in and security will take a long time)
Hurry up! By the time we get to the cinema, the film will already have started.

You can say ‘by the time something happened’ (for the past):
Karen’s car broke down on the way to the party last night. By the time she arrived, most of the

other guests had left.
(= it took her a long time to get there and most of the guests left during this time)

I had a lot of work to do yesterday evening. I was very tired by the time I finished.
(= it took me a long time to do the work, and I became more and more tired)
We went to the cinema last night. It took us a long time to find somewhere to park the car.
By the time we got to the cinema, the film had already started.
You can say by then or by that time:

Karen finally got to the party at midnight, but by then most of the other guests had left.
or … but by that time, most of the other guests had left.

240 will be doing and will have done ➜ Unit 24 by (other uses) ➜ Units 42B, 60B, 128