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Comment by jessekv | Hacker News Reader

> fix it until next Monday

Off topic, sorry. I'm curious why Germans often use this phrasing. Is there a "false friend" [1] in English? (I assume you mean 'before', not 'until')

1. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_friend

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In English one would use 'by' for a deadline and 'until' when the state or action continues up to a point. e.g. "I must finish the task by the end of the day" or "I'll be working on the task until the end of the day". In German 'bis' is used for both cases.

To continue the tangent, I'm currently learning Spanish and appreciate the really long tail involved in language learning. I often work with people who, while they do not speak English as their first language, speak it pretty much perfectly. Except for maybe a few minor "glitches", which would just never occur with a native speaker. I often wonder how pointing these out would be received, and though I presume many would be appreciative, maybe not all...

The order of adjectives in English is something you never think about, but unless you put them in a very specific order you sound crazy

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/adj...

Before and until are sometimes interchangable in English.

Don't go there before Monday. Don't go there until Monday.

You can get this deal until Monday. You can get this deal before Monday. (Some lack of clarity about whether the offer is valid on Monday with until though)

But I agree, it doesn't work in this context.

English is weird.

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