Choose the correct version of the given sentence from the options below:
The train left Itarsi until the signal turned green.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → The train did not leave Itarsi until the signal turned green.
“Not ... until” with an action that happens at one moment:
- The given sentence says “The train left Itarsi until the signal turned green”. This is wrong.
- “Leave” is an action that happens at one moment. It cannot go on “until” a certain time.
- So we put “not” in the main part: did not leave ... until. It means the train left only when the signal turned green.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: The train did not leave Itarsi until the signal did not turn green. — Incorrect. The option says “until the signal did not turn green”. The “not” belongs only in the main part. The part after “until” takes no “not”.
Option 2: Not until the signal turned green the train left Itarsi. — Incorrect. When a sentence starts with “Not until”, the helping verb comes before the subject in the main part: “did the train leave”.
Option 3: The train did leave Itarsi until the signal turned green. — Incorrect. “Did leave” still has no “not”. A one-moment action like “leave” needs “did not ... until”.