"Papa allait bien jusqu'à la semaine dernière."

Translation: Dad was fine until last week.

[Asimmons1941]

Dad was doing well until last week should also accepted, no?

[ICeRqrWG]

Bonjour! Yes, I agree with you. (Dad was doing well fits perfectly as an alternative translation,.)

[ICeRqrWG]

I translated that way but was also marked wrong.

[sotnosen93]

This is accepted.

[Lisaskier]

Dad was OK until last week. Not accepted by DL. Surely it should be?

[RWang2017]

Why is "Dad went well until last week" not accepted by DL? Isn't "allait" the past tense of aller?

[CJ.Dennis]

It's not a French problem, it's an English problem.

"Dad was going well" ≠ "Dad went well".

• "Dad was going well" - his health was good
• "Dad went well" - he performed well (colloquial)

[dougsfrench]

Thank you petemehegan. I was confused about that one but your explanation is very clear

[EmmaLouGiroux]

Dad was doing well up until last week. Alternate translation?

[ronald.mora]

Allait bien : was fine

[john620283]

Dad was doing well or going well should be accepted and "'til" is correct and not "till" since it is "until" abbreviated.

[CJ.Dennis]

"'til" is incorrect. "until" is a compound word formed with obsolete "und" (as far as) + "till". "till" predates "until", not the other way around. "until" has no accepted abbreviation.

• https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/until

[petemehegan]

Your comment is fascinating given there is no governing body in English, and “correct” has become entirely arbitrary. Each year with increasing dismay I find my students bereft of even rudimentary knowledge of English grammar. You will not find an English teacher in my school who will correct the word “til” in an essay. They’re happy if they discover a semblance of coherence.

[petemehegan]

This is such a cultural morass of possibilities, it's no wonder it breeds confusion. I put, "Dad was feeling well until (up to) last week." That should be accepted, because aller is always used when my health is concerned.

[LesAussi]

Why not?: Father was fine until the last week.

[petemehegan]

The placement of "dernière" decides that. "The last week" would have to be, "la dernière semaine," an event of several weeks duration and he fell ill on the last one. "Last week," being the week prior to this one is, "la semaine dernière." There are several adjectives that change meaning by their placement before or after the word. I learned this de mon ancien prof ancien.

[JessNYY]

Alors, your placement of the word 'ancien' before and after 'prof' signifies two different meanings. Your 'former' (ancien) teacher who was 'elderly in age', no? I think I see what you did there!

[petemehegan]

That’s correct.

[LesAussi]

Merci.

[PennyColes1]

Thanks for that - it was my question.

[deactivated user]

Les888654 p`ere is father, papa is daddy.

[ligetidavid]

What is about Dad was fine until THE last week?

[DesVosges]

I think you should be able to use "going well" as in French. This is the same meaning in English

[jpfoster65]

'fine' and 'well' are interchangeable in this context in English.

[Bryce53261]

In UK English it's common to say "up until"

[RQZ.Sash]

What is the reason of the use of à in this sentence? Is the following sentence not correct?

Papa allait bien jusque la semaine dernière.