Expressing "until" with dopóki nie
To express that a situation will continue up to the moment a completed event occurs, use the phrase dopóki nie followed by a perfective verb.
The word nie in this structure is a "pleonastic" (redundant) negation. It doesn't make the action negative; instead, it acts as a boundary marker for when the condition ends.
| Please do not say anything until he calms down. | Proszę nic nie mówić, dopóki on się nie uspokoi. |
| Let's take a break until the situation calms down. | Zróbmy przerwę, dopóki sytuacja się nie uspokoi. |
Negative main clauses
You will often see a negative main clause paired with a dopóki nie clause ("I won't do X until Y happens"). Both halves of the Polish sentence contain nie, but they serve different purposes: the first is a true negation, while the second just marks "until".
| I will not make a decision until I think everything over. | Nie podejmę decyzji, dopóki wszystkiego nie przemyślę. |
| I will not sort this matter out until you think everything over. | Nie załatwię tej sprawy, dopóki wszystkiego nie przemyślisz. |
| I will not return to work until I recover. | Nie wrócę do pracy, dopóki nie wyzdrowieję. |
Word order and reflexive pronouns
The boundary marker nie must sit directly before the verb. If the verb requires a reflexive pronoun like się, that pronoun will usually step in front of the nie to avoid breaking up the negation and the verb.
| Let's wait here until someone shows up. | Czekajmy tu, dopóki ktoś się nie zjawi. |
| We will work until we see an appropriate effect. | Będziemy pracować, dopóki nie zobaczymy odpowiedniego efektu. |
