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  • Hi guys! This is Kee from BBC Learning English,

  • and today I'm going to tell you the differences between 'until' and 'by'.

  • We use 'until' to talk about doing something up to a certain point in time.

  • If I say:

  • I have to take care of my dog until 5pm,

  • it means I will start taking care of my dog now

  • and stop taking care of it at 5pm.

  • On the other hand,

  • we use 'by' to talk about doing something before a future time or deadline.

  • If I say:

  • I have to finish an essay by 5pm,

  • it means I can start any time

  • but I will make sure that at 5pm I have finished writing the essay.

  • So, I may even finish it at 3pm or any time before 5.

  • So we use 'until' to describe doing something up to a certain point in time

  • and we use 'by' to describe doing something before a future time or deadline.

Hi guys! This is Kee from BBC Learning English,

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