particle N5 essential casualpolitewritten
まで — until / as far as
まで
Meaning
① end point: until / up to / as far as — where a span or continuous action ends
② emphatic 'even': even ~ — reaching as far as something surprising
Key sentence
① end point
五時まで働く。
I work until five.
② emphatic 'even'
この村では子供まで英語を話す。
In this village, even the children speak English.
Formation
| Attaches to | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun / dictionary-form verb | N / V-る + まで | 駅まで / 終わるまで |
Examples
① end point
この電車は大阪まで行く。
This train goes as far as Osaka.
家から駅まで十分かかる。
It takes ten minutes from home to the station.
② emphatic 'even'
この祭りには外国人まで来る。
Even foreigners come to this festival.
When you can't use it
- まで covers a continuous action up to a point. For a one-time action that must finish by a deadline, use までに: 五時までに終わらせる (finish it by five), not ×五時まで終わらせる. end point
Easily confused with
See まで in real sentences
Jengo shows まで the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.
Study it in JengoSources Compiled with reference to A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar, A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar.