FAQs about sentence and word structure

How do you spell until correctly?

The word until is spelled with one “l.”

Have you tried QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker? It will help you avoid common typos like “untill” instead of “until.”

Read this FAQ: How do you spell until correctly?

Does until include that day?

When until refers to a day or date, the meaning can be ambiguous because “until” refers to a particular point in that day or date rather than the whole day or date.

When people say “I’m out of office until Monday/May 2,” they generally mean that the state of “being out of office” will continue up to and end at the beginning of work, school, etc. on Monday (e.g., at 9 a.m. when they start work on Monday), so they will be back at work and available on Monday/May 2.

If they say “I’m here/available/working until Wednesday,” they generally mean that the state of “being here/available/working” will continue up to the end of work, school, etc. on Wednesday (e.g., 5 p.m. on Wednesday), so they will still be here/available/working on Wednesday.

To avoid confusion, you can specify the “end point” of the state or situation (e.g., “I’m out of office until 9 a.m. on May 2,” or “I’m available until 5 p.m. on Wednesday”).

Have you tried QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker? You can use it to check your out of office email messages.

Read this FAQ: Does until include that day?

Is it till or until?

Both till and until are correct and have the same meaning.

They can be used interchangeably, but “till” has a more informal effect, so is best avoided in formal writing—such as academic writing.

QuillBot’s free Paraphraser tool can help you to fine-tune the formality of your text.

Read this FAQ: Is it till or until?

Is it until or til?

Both until and ‘til are correct and have the same meaning.

They can be used interchangeably but “‘til” (written with an apostrophe before it) is informal, so is best avoided in formal writing such as a research paper.

QuillBot’s free Paraphraser tool can help you find the right level of formality for your text.

Read this FAQ: Is it until or til?

Is it until or untill?

It is until, not untill.

The preposition and subordinating conjunction “until” is spelled with one “l.”

QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker will help you avoid common typos like “untill” instead of “until.”

Read this FAQ: Is it until or untill?

Is its possessive?

Its is a possessive adjective that means “belonging to it” (e.g., “The squirrel shook its tail”). Other possessive adjectives include

“my,” “your,” “her,” “his,” “its,” “our,” “their,” and “whose.”

Possessive adjectives do not have apostrophes like possessive nouns (e.g., “Shelly’s house” or “the dog’s blanket”). Possessives are also considered genitive case.

“Its” is sometimes confused for “it’s,” which isn’t a possessive but a contraction for “it is.”

The QuillBot Grammar Checker can help you find and fix errors with possessive adjectives and other uses of the genitive case. It can also help you avoid errors with Its versus it’s.

Read this FAQ: Is its possessive?

What does under par mean?

The phrase under par means “disappointing because it is below the expected standard” (e.g., “Although somewhat under par for a movie from this director, it’s still definitely worth seeing”). It’s interchangeable with “subpar,” which means the same thing.

“Feeling under par” means feeling slightly unwell (e.g., “I was feeling a bit under par this morning, but I’m full of energy now”).

“Under par” comes from the golf term “par,” but it’s not an accurate analogy. In the game of golf, a score that is under par is below zero, which is a desirable outcome because the lowest score wins.

When you’re curious about the meanings of idioms like “under par,” QuillBot’s AI Chat can give you instant answers. 

Read this FAQ: What does under par mean?

What does under no circumstances mean?

The phrase under no circumstances means “never” or “in no situations” (e.g., “Under no circumstances should fire extinguishers be used to hold open doors”).

You can use QuillBot’s Grammar Checker to help ensure that you’re using the phrase “under no circumstances” correctly in your writing.

Read this FAQ: What does under no circumstances mean?

Is it dative case or objective case?

The correct use of dative case or objective case depends on what language you’re studying. In English, the three grammatical cases are nominative, genitive, and objective (which includes dative and accusative).

In some languages (e.g., German, Latin, and Russian), dative case is one of four or more total cases, including nominative, genitive, accusative, and dative.

Dative case applies to an indirect object that receives the direct object. For example, in “Mom bought him ice cream,” “him” is an indirect object, and “ice cream” is a direct object.

Dative case and accusative case in English both use object pronouns (e.g., “me”) or reflexive pronouns (e.g., “myself”) rather than subject pronouns (e.g., “I”). In other languages, the accusative and dative cases have different sets of rules.

When you’re writing sentences with indirect objects and direct objects, QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker can help you choose the correct object pronouns.

Read this FAQ: Is it dative case or objective case?

What does above the fold mean?

If a newspaper article is above the fold, it means that it is on the top half of the front page and therefore in the most important place (e.g., “The editor wants to run the article above the fold”).

The term “above the fold” is also used to refer to the upper part of a webpage or email that is visible without the user having to scroll down (e.g., “The most important links on the homepage should all be above the fold”).

If you’re ever writing something that’s above the fold, the QuillBot Grammar Checker will help you ensure that it’s error free.

Read this FAQ: What does above the fold mean?