until vs as long as

by **siddharthsyal31** Tue May 17, 2011 2:19 pm

I have a question regarding the usage of "until" and "as long as"

I read it somewhere that until is used to express a point of time in the future and "as long as" implies that one thing will occur while another thing is still true

so "the sale will continue until 9 pm" is correct
and "the sale will continue as long as the supply lasts" is also correct

Now i don't get why is "the sale will continue until customers stop coming in" correct. This sentence also specifies a condition, so it should be "as long as"
On similar lines why is "You cannot leave until your work is finished" correct

Please correct me if I am wrong somewhere
I got these sentences from http://www.urch.com/forums/gmat-sentenc ... ng-as.html thread

by **rikky.bora** Wed May 18, 2011 5:11 pm

Hi Siddharth,

The difference as I see between "until" and "as long as" can be put in the two examples

John sleeps as long as it is dark.

Think - For the whole duration when it is dark, John sleeps. ( No change/stopping of action )

John sleeps until sunrise.

Think - The moment sunrise occurs, John stops sleeping. ( Change/stopping of action )

Explaining the examples that you shared.

The sale will continue until 9 pm
Think - Moment 9 P.M. and the sale stops.

The sale will continue as long as the supply lasts
Think - For the whole duration supply lasts, sale continues.

The sale will continue until customers stop coming in.
Think - Moment Customers stop coming in, sale stops.

A definition that I just made up - What follows "until" is the cause that changes the inertia of the action being performed before until.

Experts, kindly confirm.

by **RonPurewal** Tue Jun 14, 2011 8:22 am

rikky, excellent.

if you keep making such good posts, we might have to hire you... |:

by **rikky.bora** Wed Jul 06, 2011 11:11 am

RonPurewal Wrote:rikky, excellent.

if you keep making such good posts, we might have to hire you... |:

I am still trudging along collecting words of wisdom from you masters!! "Enlightened" still sounds so far away. :(

by **jnelson0612** Sat Jul 30, 2011 12:36 am

Very nice rikky!

by **chembeti_aravind** Sat Dec 31, 2011 2:47 am

I understand usage of 'as long as' and 'until' as follows.

An event can depend on another event in 2 ways: either the beginning or the ending of the second event brings some change n the first event.

If is 'beginning', we should use 'until' and if it is 'ending' we should use 'as long as'.

For an ex, please visit the following link that I posted in gmatclub forums.

http://gmatclub.com/forum/the-sale-of-g ... l#p1022169

Hope I am clear here.

by **jnelson0612** Tue Jan 10, 2012 11:19 am

Makes sense to me, thanks!

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