not until 直到……才

这个句型对学生应该是再熟悉不过的了，但是其用法其实有不少变化。下面我们归纳一下常见的用法。

1. 最经典的结构是与 it was 的搭配，即 “it was not until .... that 从句”。

1) until 后边一般是跟时间点，如：
It was not until midnight that it stopped raining. 直到半夜雨才停下来。
It was not until five o'clock in the afternoon that they finished their work. 直到下午五点他们才完成工作。

2) 后边也可以是一个陈述的句子，如：
It was not until he came to China that he realized the great change in recent decades. 直到他来到中国，他才意识到最近几十年的巨大变化。
It was not until he got sick seriously that he realized the value of a healthy body. 直到他生重病，他才意识到一个健康体魄的价值。

搭配陈述句子时，由于陈述的句子可能会比较长，读者要注意不能丢失语感。也即是说阅读陈述句子时，不要忘记后边的 that 其实是这个结构的一部分。

3) 后边还可跟介词短语，如：
It was not until after Friday that I got his reply. 直到星期五之后，我才得到他的答复。

我们可以注意到，在以上列举的例句中，that 从句部分都是采用一般的陈述语序（类似于宾语从句）。时态上一般采用过去时，与 it was 相呼应。

2. not 与 until 也可以分开，如：
She didn't go to bed until eleven o'clock. 她直到11点才上床睡觉。
You're not going out until you've finished this. 你要做完这个才可以出去。

3. not 也可以是其他否定词如 never
I never realized I loved you until now. 我至今才意识到我爱你。(直到现在我才意识到我爱你。)

4. 这个句式还可以以倒装句的形式出现，如：
Not until yesterday did I learn anything about it. 直到昨天我才知道这件事。
Not until her husband died did Callie know he is a murderer of two people. 直到她丈夫去世，卡莉才知道他是两个人的凶手。

在写作时如能恰当采用倒装句式，可以展示作者的文字功底，无疑会给作文的成绩加分。