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I know that "only" is a necessary condition indicator when it's used alone, and "until" can be translated to "if not" and the immediate following phrase becomes the sufficient condition.. But what happens with "only until"?

If you say "I'll be studying only until 12 am," does that mean:

Study --> 12 am
NOT 12 am --> NOT study


Or does it translate to this:

NOT 12 am --> Study
NOT Study --> 12 am

I'm confused in general with indicator phrases that are made up of two different indicator words, like only until, only if, only when, only without. Help!

cneu333 wrote:
If you say "I'll be studying only until 12 am"

When you use this phrase in everyday language, what do you mean by it?

It means that a sufficient condition for your not studying is that it is 12a or later. It also means, symmetrically, that a necessary condition of your studying is that it is not 12a or later.