Expressing "all the way until" with "zhidao"

这个句型只能用于描述过去的。肯定形式用来表示某件事花了很长时间或者很晚才达成。否定形式用来表示某件事经过很长时间或者很晚也没有实现。

Affirmative Form

直到 + Time / Event ，Subj. + 才 + Predicate

This subject can also be place before 直到.

直到十二点半，我才做完作业。Zhídào shí'èr diǎn bàn, wǒ cái zuò wán zuòyè.It wasn't until half past twelve in the morning that I finished homework.
直到半个月以后，我的感冒才好。It took me half a month to recover from the cold.
她直到十八岁才见到亲生父母。Tā zhídào shíbā suì cái jiàndào qīnshēng fùmǔ.It wasn't until she was eighteen that she met her biological parents.
我直到大学毕业才开始独立生活。Wǒ zhídào dàxué bìyè, cái kāishǐ dúlì shēnghuó.It wasn't until I graduated from college that I started living independently.
直到去了北京，他才知道一个人在大城市多辛苦。Zhídào qù le Běijīng, tā cái zhīdào yīgèrén zài dà chéngshì duō xīnkǔ.It wasn't until he went to Beijing that he understood how hard it is to be in a big city all alone.

直到 + Time / Event ，Subj. + 都 + 不 / 没 + Predicate

直到他死，我们 都没 见过。Zhídào tā sǐ, wǒmen dōu méi jiàn guo.We never met till his death.
他们是同学，但是直到毕业，都没 说过话。Tāmen shì tóngxué, dànshì zhídào bìyè, dōu méi shuō guo huà.They are classmates. But they had never spoken until they graduated.
直到电影结束，他 都没 来。Zhídào diànyǐng jiéshù, tā dōu méi lái.He never showed up until the movie was over.
直到我弟弟上大学，他 都不 会洗衣服。Zhídào wǒ dìdi shàng dàxué, tā dōu bù huì xǐ yīfu.My younger brother could't wash clothes until he went to college.
我认识他一年多了，直到现在，我 都不 知道他的全名。Wǒ rènshi tā yī nián duō le, zhídào xiànzài, wǒ dōu bù zhīdào tā de quánmíng.I've known him for more than one year, but I still don't know his full name.