Up Until
How to use "until" correctlyThis is an entry on my list of Common Errors in English Usage. Visit the main page for direct links to additional entries.
Until can act as either a subordinating conjunction or a preposition. In either role it acts alone. Avoid nonstandard expressions like up until, as up contributes nothing to its meaning or function:
Up until I was twenty, I had never traveled abroad.
Until I was twenty, I had never traveled abroad.
up until the start of the match
until the start of the match
Related Resources
Common Errors in English Usage: Errors in diction and idiom commonly made by native speakers of English
List of Common Errors in English Usage (PDF): Printable version of the complete list
Common Grammar Errors: A list of common errors in grammar (topics like subject-verb agreement and parallelism) as distinct from usage
List of Common Errors in English Usage: PDF version
© 2006, 2008, and 2019 C. Brantley Collins, Jr.