There is a common misunderstanding among my students between the expressions “so far” and “until now” because these two expressions are very similar in their language. So I would like to clear up this misunderstanding in my blog today.
The expression “so far” is used when we’re in the middle of a particular situation. In other words, the situation has started, but it is NOT over yet. We use “so far” when talking about the sitatuion from the beginning of that situation until the present moment. The future is something the person doesn’t know about because it hasn’t happened yet. Here is a timeline to help you understand:
start______________________now_________________________end
—————so far—————->/—————unknown—————/
For example, if the situation is the weekend, the start is Friday night and the end is Sunday night. Let’s say that now it is Saturday night. A conversation would be like this:
A: How is your weekend so far?
B: It’s really good so far.
If it is Sunday night, the conversation would be like this:
A: How was your weekend?
B: It was really good.
Now let’s say the sitation is a work project. The start is the beginning of the project and the end is when you finish the project. Right now you have completed 40% of the project. At that point, a conversation might be like this:
A: What have you done so far with your project?
B: So far, I’ve completed writing the report and making a list of potential customers.
Let’s say the situation is a presentation that you’re doing, and you’re in the middle of the presentation. At that point you would ask:
Does anyone have any questions so far?
If you’ve finished the presentation, you would ask:
Does anyone have any questions?
So, that is “so far”. The expression “until now” is a little different because it is used to indicate that the situation has changed. For example, look at the following two sentences:
I’m happy with my new job so far.
I was happy with my new job until now.
The first sentence means that that person continues to be happy with the job but doesn’t know about the future. The second sentence means that something has happened and that he or she is no longer happy with the job; the situation has changed. Here are some more examples using “until now”:
We didn’t have any problems with the project until now. (Now we have a problem.)
I really enjoyed that TV show until now. (Now I don’t enjoy the show anymore.)
My neighbors were really loud at night until now. (Now they are quiet.)
Please take note that when we use “until now”, we use the past tense, but we DON’T use the past tense with “so far”.
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Lucas Said:
on December 7, 2010 at 6:07 pm
thanks for the help..
Nagina Said:
on March 11, 2011 at 3:45 pm
It’s great what you’ve done. Thanks a lot!
elizabeth cardona Said:
on November 13, 2011 at 6:35 pm
thank you very much , it really helped me a lot 🙂
sara Said:
on January 18, 2012 at 6:39 pm
thanks for your help but I have a question can I use until now with present perfect tense?for example: I have done all of my homework until now.
englishhelponline Said:
on January 20, 2012 at 9:20 pm
Hi there.
Yes, it’s possible to say something like “I have done all of my homework until now.” But if the person says that, it means that the situation has now changed and they haven’t done their homework for the first time.
Thanks for your question.
Mike
oswaldo salcedo (@oswaldosalcedo) Said:
on October 14, 2012 at 12:04 pm
great !
Mo0omo Said:
on March 14, 2013 at 3:16 pm
It’s so clear and benefit, Thank you so much.
prakki Said:
on June 22, 2013 at 7:24 pm
thanks a lot
Bota Said:
on July 13, 2013 at 8:03 pm
Can we use until now at the beginning of a sentence and if yes, shall we use a comma and start the sentence with the past simple?
englishhelponline Said:
on July 14, 2013 at 4:00 pm
Yes, we can put it at the beginning followed by a comma but it should use the past perfect continuous tense. For example:
Until now, I’d been buying my clothes at ABC Department Store, but now I’ve switched to XYZ Department Store.
Ajeesh Said:
on August 20, 2013 at 10:04 pm
Thank you so much for your help to know the diffrence between so far and untill now.
Nelson Said:
on November 21, 2013 at 11:44 pm
Thank you very much for the explanations, really your text is a true lesson of English, mainly for we that are beginners….
Mohammad Mohsin Said:
on February 4, 2014 at 7:05 pm
What is the difference then between “until now” and “(for” so long”?
englishhelponline Said:
on February 6, 2014 at 7:55 am
The term “until now” refers to the time something stops and “for so long” refers to the amount of time something takes and stresses that it’s a very long time.
Mohammad Mohsin Said:
on February 12, 2014 at 5:49 pm
Thanks for your help
Learner Said:
on June 11, 2014 at 3:31 am
Understood clearly..thank u very much
Ehab Said:
on July 8, 2014 at 4:52 am
Thanks a lot for the explanation. You really made it clear with the use of simple examples. Thanks again for the simplification.
YH Said:
on November 14, 2014 at 8:30 pm
Another deep thank from South Korea! 🙂