# dokud, pokud, až do a spojky



## snufkin84

Hi guys,

I am a newbie to the forum. Be gentle. I am a native English speaker, and have studied Czech for a few years now. However, I have never been able to understand how in Czech 'until' should be properly expressed. If I understand correctly, with time phrases we should use 'až do' e.g.:

_Musím pracovat až do 3 hodiny ráno. _(I must work until 3 in the morning)

As I think I understand it, 'dokud' as a conjunction is only used with a negative verb. e.g.: 

_Musím pracovat dokud nezemřu_ (I have to work until I die)

But... what about this sentence:
_
Nemusím pracovat dokud nezemřu_ (I won't have to work until I die)

So... basically I'd appreciate it if a native speaker could confirm if I am right in the above examples, and perhaps offer a grammatical explanation as to how does one use 'until/dokud' as a conjunction? And what is the difference between 'dokud' and 'pokud'? Sorry for all the questions, but this has been bothering me for so long!!


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## qetu

Hi,

I think you got the gist of it. You made just a little mistake in the first sentence. It's supposed to be "až do tří *hodin *do rána".

And as for the difference between "dokud" and "pokud", "pokud" means "if". For example:

_Pokud ho uvidíš, zavolej mi.
If you see him, call me.
_
"Pokud" is often replaced by "jestli" which is more commonly used.

Good luck with your Czech .


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## evice-palice

Hello snufkin!
I must say this is hard matter for a native speaker^^ 

As you said, if you use *"až do" *then it must be followed by a noun (genitive case). It may be an hour, part of a day (week, year), some event...
E.g.* až do svítání *(till daybreak)*, až do smrti*(until death)*, až do (konce) listopadu *(until the end of November)*, až do odjezdu *(until the departure) etc.
And although "až do" is quite an often expression you don't everytime have to say "až do", just *"do" *(preposition) works in the same way. 
Like: *Pracuji do 4 *(I work until 4), *Do večera jsem doma *(I'm at home until evening), *Do 9 budeme připraveni* (We will be ready by 9) etc.
If you say "*až" before "do"* then "až" has a function of emphasizing adverb (I must work uuuntil morning - so long)

*Dokud *as a conjunction can be used without negative either. It's not only translated like "until", it also means *"as long as"* or *"while"* For exapmple:
*Dokud jím, žiju.* (As long as I eat, I live.)
*Dokud jsi tu, bavím se. *(As long as you are here, I'm having fun.)
*Musím mu to říct, dokud je to zajímavé. *(I have to tell him while the news is hot.)
*Zůstaneme na zahradě, dokud bude hezky. = Zůstaneme na zahradě, dokud nezačne pršet.*
(We're staying in the garden as long as the weather is fine. = ...until it doesn't rain.)

Concerning negative/positive, I don't see any limit in using dokud. But maybe, when we use negative verb, then *until* fits better into the english translation and when we use the positive then *as long as* fits better. That could be the confusing point. One could expand on this more complexly but I don't wanna scare you. Anyway, good that we only use one word - *dokud* 

About *pokud*, I found that it is a time conjunction (same like dokud) but in my opinion it's conditional conjunction, as qetu said. If it is ever used as a time conjunction then it must be some pretty archaic text.

Hope this was helpful!


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## werrr

So far one important point regarding *dokud* is missing here. It is its correlation to aspects:

*dokud* +_ imperfective verb (positive or negative)_ =* as long as
**dokud* +_ perefective verb (negative only)_ = *until

*​It is actually quite natural, just consider that *as long as* refers to a period of time which is intrinsic property of imperfective verbs while *until* refers to a point of time which is intrinsic to perfective verbs.


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