not … until… / not until… / It was not until… that
Practical Translation:
1. He didn't show up until near the end of the meeting. （show up）
2. It was not until the beginning of the twentieth century that people learned how to prevent the spread of the disease. (prevent)
3. It was only then that he realized that his teacher was very empathetic. （considerate）
4. It's a pity that they didn't take measures to prevent it until after the accident.
5. We weren't relieved until we heard from you last weekend. （relieve）
Here's the answer, if you can easily get it right, congratulations, slide away:
1. Not until the meeting was almost over did he show up.
2. Not until the beginning of the 20th century did people learn how to prevent the disease from spreading.
3. Not until then did he realize that his teacher was very considerate / thoughtful / understanding.
4. it’s a pity that they didn’t take any measures to prevent the accident until it happened.
5. Not until we heard from you last week were we relieved.
Explanation:
A deep understanding of "not...... until".
Declarative sentences
"not... until" is the basic declarative sentence structure of "subject + (not) verb + until + clause (or word for time)".
For example:
I didn't go to bed until my parents came back.
I didn't go to sleep until my parents came back.
Man didn’t know what heat is until the early years of the 19th century.
It wasn't until the beginning of the 19th century that humans knew what thermal energy was.
Until 直到….为止, not… until直到… 才
The affirmative form means "to do something until a certain time" and the verb must be continuous.
The negative form expression means "not doing something until a certain time". Verbs can be either continuous or non-continuous.
Affirmations:
I slept until midnight. 我一直睡到半夜时醒了。
Wait till I call you. 等着我叫你。
Negative clauses:
She didn't arrive until 6 o”clock.她直到6点才到。
Don't get off the bus until it has stopped.公共汽车停稳后再下车。
I didn't manage to do it until you had explained how. 直到你教我后，我才会做。
Negative sentences can be expressed in the following two sentence forms to express emphasis:
Inverted sentences
"Not... The inverted sentence structure of "until" is: "Not + until + clause (or word for time) + auxiliary verb/modal verb + subject + verb".
For example:
Not until my parents came back did I go to bed.
I didn't go to sleep until my parents came back.
Not until the early years of the 19th century did man know what heat is.
It wasn't until the beginning of the 19th century that humans knew what thermal energy was.
Emphasis sentences
"Not... until", the emphatic structure is: "It is/was + not + until + clause (or word for time) + that + main clause".
For example:
It was not until my parents came back that I went to bed.
I didn't go to sleep until my parents came back.
In this sentence, "It is/was" is the leading word of the emphatic sentence, which directly emphasizes the temporal adverbial clause "not until + the clause my parents came back".
It was not until the early years of the 19th century that man knew what heat is.
It wasn't until the beginning of the 19th century that humans knew what thermal energy was.
Comparison of the three translations:
He did not know the truth of the matter until a few months later.
Not until a few months later did he know the truth of the matter.
It was not until a few months later that he knew the truth of the matter.
It wasn't until a few months later that he learned the truth of the matter.
