Till and until mean the same thing and both are correct English: "We waited till dawn" and "We waited until dawn" are equally standard. Until is slightly more formal and reads better at the start of a sentence; till is more relaxed. The spelling 'til is the one to avoid.
Many people believe till is a sloppy shortening of until. It is not. Both words are long-established in English, and every major dictionary lists till as fully standard. Neither is an abbreviation of the other, and till does not require an apostrophe.
Using them
They are interchangeable in almost every sentence:
- "The shop stays open till nine." / "The shop stays open until nine."
- "I didn't hear till Tuesday." / "I didn't hear until Tuesday."
- "Wait till you see the garden."
Both work as prepositions (before a noun or time) and as conjunctions (before a clause).
The rule you can apply
Choose by formality and position:
- Use until in formal writing — reports, contracts, academic work, anything official.
- Use until at the beginning of a sentence. "Until the results arrive, we can't plan" reads better than "Till the results arrive...", which sounds abrupt.
- Use till freely in conversation, dialogue, informal email and anywhere a lighter tone suits.
A simple test: if the sentence would sit comfortably in a legal notice, write until. Otherwise either is fine and neither is an error.
The spelling to avoid
The form 'til (with an apostrophe) is a back-formation that assumes till is a contraction. Since it is not, the apostrophe has nothing to stand for. Style guides generally advise against 'til, and til without the apostrophe is worse still. If you want the short form, write till — two l's, no apostrophe.
The exception is song titles, brand names and deliberate stylisation, where 'til appears widely and is best left as written when you are quoting.
Two other things called till
Till is also the noun for a shop's cash register — "the money in the till" — and a verb meaning to prepare soil for planting: "They tilled the field in March." Neither has any connection to time, and context makes them obvious.
One further note: up until and up till are both idiomatic and add a slight sense of continuous duration, though until alone is usually tighter: "Up until last year, she taught in Bristol."
Frequently Asked Questions
Is "till" bad English?
No. It is fully standard and listed without qualification in major dictionaries. It is simply a little less formal than until.
Should I write 'til with an apostrophe?
Better not to. Till is not a contraction of until, so the apostrophe stands for nothing. Use till or until instead.
Which should I use at the start of a sentence?
Until. "Until the paperwork clears, nothing can be signed" reads more naturally than the same sentence with till, which sounds clipped in that position.