Hi,
somebody can explain to me, if possible with some examples, the difference between till and until
another question : in this sentence above, can you tell me if it’s better to say “somebody can tell me …” or “someone can tell me …”
Thanks a lot
Hi,
as far as I know ( not too far actually ) till and untill are the same, just like somebody and someone.
Let’s see what others say though
Spencer
Hi Christophe,
Broadly there is little difference between till/until or someone/somebody.
Alan
Hi Alan!
So there IS difference!
Would You tell me what is that?
Another question:
Wich one is OK: Would you tell me what is that, or
Would you tell me what that is?
The latter is so strange somehow, but the longer I’m looking at it,the better it seems.
I’m getting sure the second is the one, but still not TOO sure.
And the third question in the combo:
Can I say: I’m getting sure?
Thank you
Spencer
Hi Spencer
I’d also like to hear (read) Alan’s explanation of the fine differences between the words. It’s not easy to explain. My own gut reaction is: ‘someone’ sounds a bit more imprecise or ambiguous than ‘somebody’ and ‘till’ sounds a bit more informal than ‘until’.
Regarding your second question:
“Would you tell me what that is?” is the correct sentence structure.
As to your third question:
“I’m getting sure.” This sentence sounds a bit unnatural to me. What context did you have in mind?
Amy
Hi Spencer,
I’ll have to accept the challenge now offered by Amy. I think I’ll take the coward’s way out and agree with her definitions. I could add also add that someone has the sense of anonymity and somebody the idea of particularity. But to be less obscure let me try to explain with examples.
You would say in conversation: Oh by the way, someone phoned while you were out. I think it was a wrong number.
Again: I’ll talk to somebody I know, this evening and let you know.
This difference is in line with the use of one as an impersonal pronoun: One (you don’t) doesn’t say that in
polite society
As for till and until, I think Amy has covered that.
Just two examples:
I’m working till Monday so I’ll see you on Tuesday (informal)
This shop is closed until further notice (formal)
Alan
Hi,
Thanks a lot Amy, Spencer and Alan for your explanations
Bye Bye
Christophe
Hey Yankee,
I was going to say something like 'It’s getting hot"
just probably “I’m getting sure” is not working this way.
Should I say “I’m getting to be sure” or better if I forget them all at once, and say “I’m not really sure”?
Thanks,
Spencer
Hey Spencer 
‘It’s getting hot’ is a typical sentence. In this situation there is always a gradual change, which is also noticeable/measurable. (OK, on rare occasions it’s not so gradual…but usually it is! 
)
I guess I don’t like the “I’m getting sure.” sentence because of the nature of the word ‘sure’.
‘Sure’ is a “black and white” word. Either you’re sure or not. Period! And the change from ‘unsure’ to ‘sure’ is not gradual, but rather there’s usually a “Eureka! moment”.
People don’t often talk about the change in their degree of sureness, but rather what the current state of their sureness is.
People DO say things such as “I’m fairly sure.” or “I’m 90 % sure.” or (as you mentioned) “I’m not really sure.”
In order to express a gradual change in your degree of sureness, maybe you could say “I’m getting surer and surer.”
Just my personal philosophical opinion…
Bye for now
Amy
Thanks Amy,
I’ve got it.
By the way 
, have you seen the movie Frigt Night?
A girl played in it, her name was Amy as well (in the movie)
and she looked just like You.
Strange, isn’t it?
Spencer
Could you please shed some light on the use of the comma in your sentence, Alan?
Tom
The pep rally won’t begin until the last class of the day has ended.
when can until and till will be used?
Ganesh
Usage note:
Till and until are both old in the language and are interchangeable as both prepositions and conjunctions: It rained till (or until) nearly midnight. The savannah remained brown and lifeless until (or till) the rains began. Till is not a shortened form of until and is not spelled 'till. 'Til is usually considered a spelling error, though widely used in advertising: Open 'til ten.
dictionary.reference.com/browse/till
Also here:
english-test.net/forum/ftopic8045.html
hey Alan,
thanx for explaining the difference between “someone” and “somebody”…but one similar question has arised in my mind…could u please explain me the difference between “everyone” and “everybody”??..do they mean the same thing…???
Yes Harsh, ‘everybody’ and ‘everyone’ are synonyms. If you use the ‘search function’ on our forum, you will find this: Anybody/Somebody vs Anyone/Someone
However, the following phrases/words don’t exist in English:
‘thanx’
‘has arised’
‘could u’
‘explain me’
Where and how did you learn those phrases/words?[YSaerTTEW443543]
TOEFL listening lectures: A university lecture in Biology[YSaerTTEW443543]
hi Torsten,
Actually in sms language we often use to write ‘thanks’ as ‘thanx’.I m more habituated to sms language.I promise I will change my habbit of writting in sms language.secondly,i thought that ‘arised’ is past participle form of ‘arise’.Now i have checked in dictionary and got to know that it would be ‘has arisen’.Thirdly, in ‘could u’ i have written ‘you’ as ‘u’.Sorry for that once again.But Torsten i don’t make out why ‘explain me’ is wrong???..
In English, we say ‘can you please explain’ or ‘can you please explain to me’. We don’t say ‘explain me’. As for ‘sms language’ it doesn’t exist. There is only the English language and in English we capitalize the personal pronoun ‘i’. We also separate each sentence by a space. It doesn’t matter whether you use English in an SMS, on a forum, in an email or a letter of application. The basic rules of the language always apply. There are lots of people who have developed the habit of ignoring basic rules because they think it’s cool. As a matter of fact, it’s not cool at all. It’s just sloppy.[YSaerTTEW443543]
TOEFL listening lectures: A lecture from a life sciences class (4)[YSaerTTEW443543]
Yes, I agree with you. It’s really not cool at all. I follow you. Thank you very much for pointing out my mistakes.
hello everybody,
i’d like to know what is the difference between till and until ?? what is the perfect use for both of them …
‘Till’ is informal.