-1

The shops are open only until 5.30. they will be closed by now.

The shops are open only by 5.30. they will be closed by now.

Greetings

Would you kindly tell me the differences that are in the sentences? I mean the difference between UNTIL 5.30 and by 5.30.

In addition, I wonder the reason why it has been used the tense future, that is

they will be closed by now. !

(I am learning English. would you possibly elaborate your explanations in details readily?)

I think I'll be wait by/until thursday before making a decision.

which one and WHY?

Thank you so much, but my last question:

Are these the acceptable reasons for your previous arguments about that you did not agree with "by 5.30"?, because when we use the following sentence as if the shops are closed twice- for example: once at 3 o'clock and the other one at 7 o'clock or after 5.30

The shops are only open by 5.30. They will be closed by now. ................. As a preposition of time “by” means “on or before”.

She should be here by Sunday.

This means she ought to be here e,g. on Friday or Saturday but definitely not later than Sunday. Use “by” when you refer to a deadline.

“Until” means “up to a particular time but no sooner than that."

The shops are open only until 5.30.

They will not close sooner than 5.30.

Improve this question
3
  • The second one doesn't really make sense. Can't really explain it though
    – akkatracker
    Commented Dec 31, 2013 at 7:07
  • 1
    Suppose it is now 7 PM, then "The shops are open only until 5:30 PM. They will be closed by now." The speaker thinks the shops are probably closed, since it is now 7 PM. The 2nd version of yours doesn't make sense to me either. -- The modals "will" and "would" have multiple uses, and many of them have nothing to do with future time; well, not directly. In my version of your #1 version, the word "will" has a meaning more like "ought to" or "should", e.g. "They should be closed by now".
    – F.E.
    Commented Dec 31, 2013 at 7:22
  • There is a way that the second one makes sense but it is very unlikely to be used with the word only or the phrase they will be closed now. If it is 4:50 in the morning and the shops open very early someone might say "The shops will be open by 5:30, you can get some milk then." This means that at 5:30 the shops will be open because they start to open a bit before 5:30. The implication is, though, that they are not likely to be open much earlier than 5:15.
    – BoldBen
    Commented Feb 9, 2020 at 8:35

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
3

As a preposition of time “by” means “on or before”.

I will give you the necessary files by Sunday.

This means I can deliver them e.g. on Friday or Saturday but definitely not later than Sunday. Use “by” when you refer to a deadline.

“Until” means “up to a particular time but no sooner than that."

The shops are open only until 5:30.

They will not close sooner than 5:30.

"I think I'll wait until Thursday before I make a decision." is correct. Explanation is the same. "I am not going to make the decision sooner than on Thursday." "By" would mean on Thursday or sooner which does not make sense.

Improve this answer
1
  • Until is a stronger statement than you claim - the shops will be shut at 5.31.
    – OJFord
    Commented Jan 2, 2015 at 19:27
2

I would like to point out the two confusions in your questions: until vs by, and the use of will in present tense (by now).

We use until to talk about a state that will continue up to a certain moment. We use by to say that an action or event will happen at or before a future moment.

Will can express certainty or confidence about present or future situation.

Tomorrow will be cloudy.
There's somebody at the door. -- That'll be mary.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .