1.  माँ-बाप जब तक लड़कों की रक्षा करें, तब तक माँ-बाप हैं ।
     'Parents are parents (only) so long as they take care of their children.'

     (from Chapter Twelve of गोदान. See context.)

2.  जमींदारी मिट जाय, बंकघर टूट जाय, लेकिन जजमानी अंत तक बनी रहेगी । जब तक हिंदू-जाति रहेगी तब तक बाम्हन भी रहेंगे और जजमानी भी रहेगी ।
     'The landlord system may disappear, the banks may collapse, but the patron-client system will remain till the end.
      As long as there are Hindus, there will be Brahmans. And there will be patrons and their clients.'

     (from Chapter Twenty-three of गोदान. See context.)

B. If the जब तक-clause expresses an action or event seen as a point in time or as something that can be thought of as defining a limit to the activity (3) or state (4) expressed by the तब तक clause, then जब तक translates as either 'until' or 'unless':

3.   . . .  जब तक उनके हाथ का कौर न पा लेती, खड़ी ताकती रहती ।
       '...she would (just) stand there and keep looking until she received a morsel from their hands.'

      (from Chapter Eight of गोदान. See context.)

4.   जब तक कोई शिकार हाथ न आ जाए हमें आराम करने का अधिकार नहीं
      'We don't have any right to take it easy until we get our hands on some game.'

       (from Chapter Seven of गोदान. See context.)

5.   बड़ी बहन ने शादी करने से सीधे इनकार कर दिया था और मैं तब तक शादी नहीं कर सकती थी जब तक उसकी न हो जाय.
      'My elder sister had flatly refused to marry and I couldn't marry unless and until she did!'

       (from www.behtarlife.com)

The construction can also be used as an alternate way of expressing determination:

6.   जब तक भैया जी के साथ फोटो नहीं तब तक नहीं मानूँगी ।
      'I won't be content until I have a photo of me with Brother.'

Formalities: In function A the indicative can be used in both clauses and either clause can be affirmative or negative. In function B the जब तक-clause can be in the indicative but is more often in the subjunctive. Verbs in the जब तक-clause are almost always in compound form and are accompanied by a negative element (न or नहीं) which is otiose [or which may correspond to the un- in until].

To notes on other ways to express determination.

C. If the तब तक-clause expresses an action or event that is seen as occurring before the action or event expressed by the जब तक clause, then जब तक translates as either 'by the time' or 'before':

7.   जब तक मेहता कुछ बोलें, वह हवा हो गई ।
      'Before Mehta Sahib could say anything, she took off.'

      (from Chapter Seven of गोदान. See context.)

In function C the verb in the तब तक-clause is usually in the indicative and is almost always a compound verb. Verbs in both clauses are affirmative. In this function the जब तक-clause is either indicative or subjunctive. If the speaker is simply indicating that one action preceded another, then verbs in both clauses are in the indicative:

8.   माँ ऑटो को पैसे देकर अस्पताल में आई तब तक मैंने एक बच्चे को जन्म दे दिया था ।
      'By the time Mom paid the rickshaw driver and came into the hospital I had given birth.'

However, if the action in the जब तक-clause is made pointless by the action or event in the तब तक-clause then use of the subjunctive (7) or the counter-factual is more appropriate:

9.   लोग जब तक उसे बचाने दौड़ते तब तक उसकी मौत हो गई थी ।
      'By the time people came running to save her, she had died.'

       (amarujala.com)

10.  मौक़े पर जब तक दमकल की गाड़ी पहुँचती तब तक वैन पूरी तरह जल कर ख़ाक हो गयी ।
      'By the time the fire truck arrived on the scene, the van had burned completely to ash.'

        (www.nayaindia.com)

11. जब तक बारिश रुकती तब तक पूरी तरह से अँधेरा घिर चुका था ।
      'By the time the rain let up, it had gotten completely dark.'

       (http://dainiktribuneonline.com)

In (11) the intention that is frustrated or the action that is rendered pointless by the तब तक clause is not directly expressed in the जब तक clause. But it can be inferred. For instance, the protagonist may have wanted to go out for a walk but couldn't go out so long as it was raining. By the time the rain stopped it had gotten dark and the protagonist's intention was now frustrated because of that.

For alternate ways of expressing anteriority see notes and more notes (section III).

D. It is possible to use the जब तक ... तब तक ... construction in two ways at once:

11.  वह तब तक आपको नहीं छोड़ेगी जब तक उसको कोई दूसरा नहीं मिल जाता और तब तक वह आपकी जेब को निचोड़ देगी ।
       'She won't let go of you until she finds another and by then she'll have taken you to the cleaners.'

       (from samacharhindi.in)

To exercise on जब तक . . . and तब तक . . .

To index of grammatical notes.

To index of Mellon Project.

First part drafted and posted 5 Feb 2001. Second part 15 Feb 2001.
Mangalized and expanded 27-29 Sept 2015.