Difference Between Still and Till

Still vs Till

Still and Till are two words in the English language that are often confused as words denotative of the same meaning. Strictly speaking they are two different words that are characterized by different meanings.

The word ‘still’ has the meaning of ‘even now’ as in the sentence ‘He still has fever’. This only gives the meaning of ‘He has fever even now’. On the other hand the word ‘till’ does not give the meaning of ‘even now’. This is the main difference between the two words.

In fact the word ‘till’ gives the meaning of ‘up to’ as in the sentence ‘I cannot speak till he comes’. This only gives the meaning ‘I cannot speak up to the time he comes’. This shows that both the words ‘still’ and ‘till’ can be used as very effective adverbs.

Look at the two sentences

1. It is still raining.

2. I cannot go out till the rain stops.

In the first sentence the use of the word ‘still’ gives the meaning of ‘continues’ or ‘even now’. In the second sentence the use of the word ‘till’ gives the meaning of ‘up to the period’ or ‘unless’.

The word ‘still’ sometimes is used in the sense of ‘remaining as it is’ or ‘without any movement or motion’ as in the sentence ‘he stood still’. In this sentence you can see that the word ‘still’ is used in the sense of ‘without any movement or motion’.

In some cases the word ‘till’ is preceded by the prefix ‘un’ as in the formation of the word ‘until’. On the other hand the word ‘still’ rarely takes any prefix in the formation of new words. It is important to understand the usage of the two adverbs, namely, till and still.