"Até você tem o livro."

[nateg_2013]

What would the sentence "Until you have the book" look like? As in 'how long will i be out of the loop on this?' 'until you have the book'

[Paulenrique]

Everybody has this book... even you have the book.

[Davu]

Well, I think that needs the subjunctive, so perhaps something like "Até que você tenha/tiver o livro" (I'm not sure whether it is best to use the present or future subjunctive). I know Paulenrique will give the correct answer soon.

[Paulenrique]

Até você ter o livro / até que você tenha o livro. Both ways are correct and express the very same thing =)

[Davu]

Thanks Paulo. Perhaps what nateg_2013 was asking is how you decide to translate "até" as "even" or "until". I thought I had a solution by adding "que" but your first sentence doesn't use that trick. It is not until you hear "ter" (I guess this is the personal infinitive) rather than "tem" that you can work it out. By the way, does my sentence with "tiver" make any sense?

[Paulenrique]

Yes, "ter" shows us how to translate até. That's the point, and using 'até que' is another way (the most common) to work it out. You could use tiver if you say "até SE você tiver o livro..." (even if you have the book...)