Indicating the whole of a period

5.135 If you want to emphasize that something lasts for the whole of a period of time, you can use 'all' as a determiner with many general time words.

'I've been warning to do this all day,' she said.

I've been here all night.

They said you were out all afternoon.

We've not seen them all summer.

You can also use 'whole' as a modifier in front of a general time word.

They forecast a fall in profits for the whole of 1989.

...scientists who are monitoring food safely the whole time.

...women who have stopped menstruating for a whole year.

You can also use 'all through', 'right through', and 'throughout' with 'the' and many general time words, of with a specific decade, year, month, or special period.

Discussions and arguments continued all through the day.

Right through the summer months they are rarefy out of sight.

Throughout the Sixties, man's first voyage to other worlds came closer.

Words referring to events can be used instead of the time words, to emphasize that something happened for the entire duration of the event.

He wore an expression of angry contempt throughout the interrogation.

A patient reported a dream that had recurred throughout her life.

All through the cruelly long journey home, he lay utterly motionless.

5.136 If you want to emphasize that something happens all the time, you can list periods of the day or seasons of the year, or mention contrasting ones.

...people coming in morning, noon, and night.

I've worn the same suit summer, winter, autumn and spring, for five years.

Thousands of slave labourers worked night and day to build the fortifications.

Ten gardeners used to work this land, winter and summer.

Indicating the start or end of a period

start time 5.137 You can also indicate how long a situation lasts by using prepositional phrases to give the time when it begins or the time when it ends, or both.

If you want to talk about a situation that began in the past and is continuing now, or to consider a period of it from a time in the past to the present, you use the preposition 'since' with a time expression or an event to indicate when the situation began. The verb is in the present perfect tense.

I've been here since twelve o'clock.

I haven't had a new customer in here since Sunday.

Some 850 firemen have been laid off since April.

I haven't been out since Christmas.

He has not won a major championship since 1974.

There has been no word of my friend since the revolution.

'Since' is also used to indicate the beginning of situations that ended in the past. The verb is in the past perfect tense.

I'd been working in London since January at a firm called Kendalls.

He hadn't prayed once since the morning.

I'd only had two sandwiches since breakfast.

'Since' can also be used with other prepositional phrases that indicate a point in time.

I haven't seen you since before the summer.

The noun group after 'since' can sometimes refer to a person or thing rather than a time or event, especially when used with a superlative, 'first' or 'only', or with a negative.

The last government was the greatest tragedy in our history since Henry the Eighth.

I have never had another dog since Jonnie.

5.138 The time when a situation began can also be indicated by using the preposition 'from' and adding the adverb 'on' or 'onwards'. The noun group can be a date, an event, or a period. The verb can be in the simple past tense or in a perfect tense.

...the history of British industry from the mid sixties on.

From the eighteenth century on, great private palaces went up.

But from the mid-1960s onwards the rate of public welfare spending has tended to accelerate.

The family size starts to influence development from birth.

They never perceived that they themselves had forced women into this role from childhood.

...the guide who had been with us from the beginning.

5.139 You can also use the preposition 'after' to give the time when a situation began.

They don't let anybody in after six o'clock.

After 1929 I concentrated on canvas work.

He'd have a number of boys to help him through the summer-time but after October he'd just have the one.

5.140 Similarly, if you want to say that a situation continues for some time and then stop, you can indicate the time when it stops by using the preposition 'until' with a time expression or an event.

The school was kept open until ten o'clock five nights a week.

They danced and laughed and talked until dawn.

She walked back again and sat in her room until dinner.

I've just discovered she's only here until Sunday.

He had been willing to wait until the following Summer.

Until the third century A.D. female slaves were below the law.

Until that meeting, most of us knew very little about him.

'Until' can also be used in negative clauses to say that something did not or will not happen before a particular time.

We won't get them until September.

My plane does not leave until tomorrow morning.

No one I knew had cars until the twenties.

It won't happen for many good months to come-probably not until the spring.

'Until' can also be used with other prepositional phrases that indicate a point in time.

The Court had resolved to wait until after Christmas to propose to Gertrude.

Some people use 'till' instead of 'until', especially in informal English.

Sometimes I lie in bed till nine o'clock.

'Up to' and 'up till' are also sometimes used, mainly before 'now' and 'then'.

Up to now the Warsaw pact had held the whole initiative.

It was something he had never even considered up till now.

I had a three-wheel bike up to a few years ago but it got harder and harder to push it along.

5.141 You can also use the preposition 'before' to indicate when a situation ends.

Before 1716 Cheltenham had been a small market town.

Before ten and after six the area is empty.

start and end times 5.142 The duration of a situation or event can be indicated by saying

when it begins and when it ends. You can use 'from' to indicate when it begins and 'to', 'till', or 'until' to indicate when it ends.

The Blitz on London began with nightly bombings from 7 September to 2 November.

They are active in the line from about January until October.

...from four in the morning until ten at night.

They seem to be working from dawn till dusk.

You can also use 'between' and 'and' instead of 'from' and 'to'.

Between 1966 and 1970 Mintech invested 8m in advanced machinery.

It's usually in the garage between Sunday and Thursday in winter.

...illuminated advertising between midnight and dawn.

In American English, 'through' is often placed between the two times:

The chat shows goes out midnight through six a.m.

If you are using figures to refer to two times of years, you can separate them with a dash, instead of using 'from' and 'to'.

...open 10-5 weekdays, 10-6 Saturdays and 2-6 Sundays.