内容正文:
By the time
by the time意为“到……时候(为止)”,是一个介词短语,在句中经常起连词作用,引导时间状语从句。它的主要用法如下:
1. 如果从句中的谓语动词是一般过去时,那么主句中的谓语动词通常用过去完成时,表示“截止到从句动作发生时,主句动作已经完成,即过去的过去”。例如:
By the time he was fourteen years old,Einstein had learned advanced mathematics all by himself.
到14岁的时候,爱因斯坦就已经自学完了高等数学。
By the time he returned home,the rain had stopped. 等他回到家时,雨已经停了。
By the time I got to the station,the train had already gone。
By the time l got home,they had already left。
By the time I received his letter, he had left Shanghai.
By the time he was 12, he had traveled to more than 30 countries to get his diseases cured.
2. 如果从句中的谓语动词为一般现在时/或现在完成时(表示将来),那么主句中的谓语动词常为将来完成时,表示“截止到将来某一时间为止,主句动作将已经完成”。
By the time John finishes his homework, his classmates shall have left to play football.
到约翰做完作业时,她的同学将已离开去伦踢足球了。
By the time you get back,I shall have finished the work.
到你回来时,我将已经把活做完了。
By the time I get home,they will have left。
By the time I graduate next year, I will have lived here for 5 years