---
title: "直到 (zhídào) in Chinese Grammar: Until, With Examples"
description: "直到 (zhídào): until; not until. 直到 A 才 B: B only happened once A did. 4 real lines from stories, each word explained."
canonical: "https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/zhidao"
author: "Mandarin The Wild"
---

[Chinese grammar](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar)

# 直到 zhídào

Until; not until

直到 A 才 B: B only happened once A did.

## In stories

**直到**今天，很多中国人一听到这首曲子，就会想起那两只蝴蝶。

[梁山伯与祝英台 · The Butterfly Lovers](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/butterfly-lovers-legend#library-word-779-781) HSK 4

抓住桌子，跟着它一起动，**直到**地不动了。

[五月十二日的演练 · What to do in an earthquake in China](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/what-to-do-in-an-earthquake-in-china#library-word-266-268) HSK 5

**直到**1877年，德国地理学家李希霍芬在书中第一次用了这个说法，它才渐渐流传开来。

[丝绸之路是什么？ · What was the Silk Road?](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/what-was-the-silk-road#library-word-646-648) HSK 6

电梯里的摄像头一旦识别出电动车，门就不会关上，**直到**车被推出去为止。

[电动车为什么不能进电梯？ · Why are e-bikes banned from lifts in China?](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/why-are-e-bikes-banned-from-lifts-in-china#library-word-106-108) HSK 6

[Read 梁山伯与祝英台](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/butterfly-lovers-legend#library-word-779-781)

## More patterns

- [从…到… from … to …](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/cong-dao)
- [把 + object + verb do something to … (and it ends up changed)](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/ba)
- [verb (+ 了) + duration (for how long) for … (how long … lasts)](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/duration)
- [verb + 得 + complement says how something is done (how well, how much, with what result)](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/v-de-c)
- […的时候 when …](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/de-shihou)
- [verb1 + 着 + verb2 (doing 2 while/by doing 1) do something while …; do it by …](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/v-zhe-v)

## What does 直到 (zhídào) mean in Chinese?

Until; not until. 直到 A 才 B: B only happened once A did.

## How common is 直到?

It comes up in 5 readings of the 392 stories and articles in our free Library.

## Does it correct my mistakes?

No. It shows which patterns a text uses and what each one does; it doesn’t mark errors. Paste a sentence you wrote to see whether it uses the pattern you meant.

## More free tools

- [Chinese dictionary](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-dictionary)
- [Measure words](https://mandarinthewild.com/measure-words)
- [How hard is this text?](https://mandarinthewild.com/text-level)
- [Free Chinese stories](https://mandarinthewild.com/library)

Patterns found by our own parser; lines from our free Library.