まで (made) — Endpoint & Limit
Marks the endpoint of a time span, distance, or range ('until' / 'up to'). It implies a continuous action or state that runs up to and stops at that point.
Structure
[Time/Place] まで [Verb]
Examples
5時まで働きます。
Goji made hatarakimasu.
I work until 5 o'clock.
5時 (5 o'clock) まで (until = the continuous action ends here)
駅まで歩いて10分です。
Eki made aruite juppun desu.
It's a 10-minute walk to the station.
駅 (station) まで (up to that location)
月曜日から金曜日まで勉強します。
Getsuyoubi kara kin'youbi made benkyou shimasu.
I study from Monday to Friday.
から…まで = the classic 'from…to' pair
• まで vs までに (crucial): まで = continuous action UP TO a point ('I'll study until 5 PM'). までに = a deadline BY WHICH a single action completes ('Please submit the report by 5 PM'). • Extent 'even': まで can also mean 'even', marking an extreme extent: 子供まで知っている (even a child knows it).
Commonly confused with
The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones まで is tested against.
vs までに (deadline)
まで expresses a continuous action lasting up to a time (5時まで待つ = wait until 5); までに sets a deadline for a one-time completed action (5時までに出す = submit by 5).
vs から (starting point)
まで marks the END of a span ('to/until'); から marks the START ('from'). Together: から…まで.
More particles
- が (ga) — Subject Marker & Exhaustive Listing
- を (o) — Direct Object & Traversal
- に (ni) — Target, Time, and Existence Location
- で (de) — Context of Action (Location, Means, Condition)
- と (to) — And (Exhaustive), With, and Quotation
- か (ka) — Question, Or, and Uncertain Identity
- の (no) — Possession, Modification, & Nominalization
- も (mo) — Also, Too, Both/And, Emphasized Quantity
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