tills
Until
Use 'tills' to mean 'until' something happens.
How It Works
The word tills is a subordinating conjunction (subjunktion) in Swedish, meaning 'until'. It is used to introduce a subordinate clause that specifies the end point of the action or state described in the main clause.
Key Points:
- Function: It marks a temporal boundary. The subordinate clause supplies the endpoint of the described interval:
tills du är klarmeans until you are ready, not until you start getting ready. - Structure: A sentence with tills has a main clause and a subordinate clause. Example: Jag väntar (main clause) tills du är klar (subordinate clause).
- Word Order: As a subjunction, tills introduces a subordinate clause. This means the word order within that clause follows the BIFF rule. If the entire sentence starts with the tills-clause, the main clause must use V2 inversion.
Tills And Till
A useful beginner pattern is tills vi ses before a clause and till måndag before a time expression. This is not an absolute division: prepositional tills occurs in somewhat informal tills i morgon, and temporal till can also introduce a clause. Jag väntar till du ringer is therefore not automatically an error; tills du ringer is a straightforward model.
Negation And FörränInte ... förrän expresses “not ... until/not before”: Du får inte gå ut förrän du har städat. This is useful when an action must wait for a condition to be met. Do not turn this into a ban on every negative sentence with tills: Det är inte länge tills tåget går means that the train leaves soon. Choose according to the construction and intended meaning.
When the time clause comes first as the initial constituent of an ordinary declarative sentence, place the finite main verb next: Tills det slutar regna stannar vi inne.
Examples (5)
- Jag väntar här tills du kommer tillbaka.
I'll wait here until you come back.
Word by Word: I wait here until you come back.
- Vi måste jobba tills projektet är klart.
We have to work until the project is finished.
Word by Word: We must work until the project is finished.
- Han läste boken tills han somnade.
He read the book until he fell asleep.
Word by Word: He read the book until he fell-asleep.
- Du får inte gå ut och leka förrän du har städat ditt rum.
You may not go out and play until you have cleaned your room.
Word by Word: You get not go out and play until you have cleaned your room.
- Tills det slutar regna stannar vi inne.
Until it stops raining, we'll stay inside.
Word by Word: Until it stops raining, stay we inside.
Note the V2 inversion ('stannar vi') in the main clause because the sentence starts with the 'tills' clause.
Common Mistakes
Forgetting V2 inversion in the main clause when the sentence starts with the 'tills' clause.
Tills filmen är slut, jag stannar.Tills filmen är slut, stannar jag.When a subordinate clause (like one starting with 'tills') begins a sentence, the main clause must start with its verb. This is the verb-second rule.
How It Connects
Learn This First
To understand 'tills' (until), you need to be familiar with basic sentence structure and how to express time using different verb tenses. It also helps to recognize its relationship to the preposition 'till'.
- tillTo
The conjunction 'tills' is etymologically and conceptually related to the preposition 'till', and understanding the basic concept of 'to' or 'until' as a limit is helpful.
Level 1 - Tense concepts
Since 'tills' is a temporal conjunction used to link two events in time, the learner needs a basic understanding of how time is expressed through verb tenses.
Foundations - Word order basics
As a conjunction, 'tills' introduces a clause, requiring the learner to understand how basic sentences are structured before connecting them.
Foundations
Related Patterns
- innanBefore
'Innan' (before) is also a temporal conjunction that introduces a subordinate clause, but it marks the point before which something happens, contrasting with 'tills' which marks the end point.
Level 2 - medanWhile
Temporal medan describes overlapping intervals; tills supplies an endpoint, as in
Level 2tills projektet är klart. The endpoint need not be the beginning of a new action. - Subordinate clause word order
Because 'tills' introduces a subordinate clause, the word order within that clause follows the BIFF rule, where sentence adverbs (like 'inte') come before the verb.
Level 3 - Verb-second rule
If a sentence begins with a 'tills' clause, the following main clause must follow the V2 inversion rule, with the verb in the second position.
Level 3
Words in This Pattern
Practice tills in Bubblegum
Poppy, your AI tutor, writes Swedish lessons at your level. Tap any grammar point in a lesson to see its full explanation.
