"From - Till" vs "From - To"

Question

I read an experience letter which said

"So and so" person has worked from "date1" till "date2".

Is it okay? Or should it be like this?

"So and so" person has worked from "date1" to "date2".

Matt E. Эллен · Accepted Answer

Either construction is fine.

In my mind using to is preferable, but until or till are acceptable alternatives.

There are examples in literature:

God has worked from those beginnings until now
  she has worked from ten o'clock at night until noon the next day
  He has worked from four in the morning until late at night
  has worked from 6 till now

Till and until are synonyms in this context. They mean "up to a specific point in time" (see: ODO). I would say that they are more likely to be found with simple (clock) times, rather than dates, but are not incorrect to use with dates.

Amos M. Carpenter · Answer

I would say that you can use both, but that in some cases there can be a very slight difference in meanings regarding whether date2 is included or not. I don't have any evidence to base this on and it may be my background as a programmer that makes me say this, but I would say that for the first example ("date1 until date2"), especially if there is an emphasis on the "until", it sounds as though something happened on date2 to exclude it from the interval, whereas it's included in the second example ("date1 to date2", i.e. "date1 up to and including date2").

Being Australian, I would consider "till" to be rather informal, but I believe that in American English it is perfectly acceptable as an alternative spelling to "until".

Peter Cox · Answer

I regard "from....till" as a function of time whereas "from....to" as a function of space.

"From - Till" vs "From - To"

3 Answers

Add your own answers!

Ask a Question