until vs as long as

[longlong]

The sale of government surplus machinery will begin at 9 a.m. and continue until the supply lasts.

(A) will begin at 9 a.m. and continue until the supply lasts

(B) begins at 9 a.m., continuing until the supply lasts

© will begin at 9 a.m. and, until the supply lasts, will continue

(D) begins at 9 a.m. and, as long as the supply may last, it continues

(E) will begin at 9 a.m. and continue as long as the supply lasts

 

 

Ans: E

 

Why not A?? What is the different between as long as and until?

 

 

Ron

[dgajaria]

Until yesterday, I had never heard about it.

By the end of the second week of school, Ken was counting the weeks until spring break.

I suspect that Mr. Montague will not survive until morning.

 

I will be there as long as you want.

The army will continue firing as long as the enemy doesn't surrender.

 

From whatever i have been able to understand;until is a presposition

and as long as is a conjuntion.http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/prepositions.htm

 

If anyone else can explain in a better way...please do

 

thanks,

Deepa

 

 

 

Originally posted by longlong

 

The sale of government surplus machinery will begin at 9 a.m. and continue until the supply lasts.

(A) will begin at 9 a.m. and continue until the supply lasts

(B) begins at 9 a.m., continuing until the supply lasts

© will begin at 9 a.m. and, until the supply lasts, will continue

(D) begins at 9 a.m. and, as long as the supply may last, it continues

(E) will begin at 9 a.m. and continue as long as the supply lasts

 

 

Ans: E

 

Why not A?? What is the different between as long as and until?

 

 

Ron

[longlong]

That's great! Thank you for clearing up my confusion.

 

 

Ron

[Erin]

A lot of people choose A.

 

"until" is used to express a point of time in the future, as Deepa has pointed out. So, (A) would mean that the sale will continue until a certain point in time, and that point in time is when the sale "lasts." That doesn't make sense; if we wanted to use "until" in that sentence, we should say something like "the sale will continue until customers stop coming in."

 

"as long as" implies that one thing will occur while another thing is still true; for example, "we will stay outside as long as it's light out."

 

I would also like to point out that both until and as (including as long as) can be both prepositions or subordinating conjunctions, so generalizing that one or another is followed by a noun whereas the other by a sentence would be erroneous.

[brstorewala]

What an explanation, precise, clear, helpful.....:cool::cool::cool::D:D:D

 

[/size][/size]For SC, first there is God and then there is Erin Billy[/size][/size][dance][dance]:cool::cool::cool:

 

 

 

 

Originally posted by Erin Billy

 

A lot of people choose A.

 

"until" is used to express a point of time in the future, as Deepa has pointed out. So, (A) would mean that the sale will continue until a certain point in time, and that point in time is when the sale "lasts." That doesn't make sense; if we wanted to use "until" in that sentence, we should say something like "the sale will continue until customers stop coming in."

 

"as long as" implies that one thing will occur while another thing is still true; for example, "we will stay outside as long as it's light out."

 

I would also like to point out that both until and as (including as long as) can be both prepositions or subordinating conjunctions, so generalizing that one or another is followed by a noun whereas the other by a sentence would be erroneous.