Breakdown of जब तक वॉश साइकल खत्म नहीं हो, तब तक इंतज़ार कीजिए।
नहीं
not
इंतज़ार करना
to wait
खत्म होना
to end
वॉश साइकल
wash cycle
Questions & Answers about जब तक वॉश साइकल खत्म नहीं हो, तब तक इंतज़ार कीजिए।
Why does the sentence use जब तक ... तब तक twice?
This is a common correlative pair in Hindi.
- जब तक = until / as long as
- तब तक = until then / for that long / in the meantime
So the pattern is:
जब तक X, तब तक Y
= Until X happens, do Y
In your sentence:
जब तक वॉश साइकल खत्म नहीं हो, तब तक इंतज़ार कीजिए।
= Until the wash cycle is finished, wait.
Hindi often likes this matching structure. In casual speech, people may sometimes omit the second part, but using both sounds clear and natural.
Why is there a नहीं in the first clause if the English meaning is until the wash cycle is finished?
This is one of the most common things that surprises English speakers.
In Hindi, जब तक often works with a negative verb:
- जब तक ... नहीं ...
- literally: until ... not ...
- natural English: until ...
So:
जब तक वॉश साइकल खत्म नहीं ho
literally = until the wash cycle is not finished
natural meaning = until the wash cycle is finished
This is normal Hindi usage. It is not a mistake.
A similar pattern appears in many sentences, for example:
- जब तक मैं न कहूँ, शुरू मत कीजिए।
= Don’t begin until I say so.