How to Talk about Limits and The Unusual with まで in Japanese
まで in Japanese is a particle representing spatial, time, or other quantity limits. You can translate it from Japanese to English with such words as:
- as far as
- until
- up to
- through
You get the idea. Let’s take a closer look though at how we can actually use it correctly when speaking Japanese.
INDEX
Limits and Ranges
When talking about limits or ranges in Japanese you can use まで. You can talk about distance, time, or various types of quantity with まで.
Distance
The first type of limit you can use まで for is distance. If you want to talk about the distance between Tokyo and Osaka you could say:
東京から大阪まで電車で3時間かかる
It takes 3 hours by train from Tokyo to Osaka
Often you will see まで show up with から to express ranges between places. The 東京から part is optional though if you wanted to leave it out. You could just say that it is 3 hours to Osaka without saying where you are departing.
Time
In the same way that まで in Japanese tells you how far to go, it can also tell you until when.
毎日午後5時まで働いています
I work every day until 5:00 pm
You use まで the same way to talk about time as you do distance. There is no difference except that you are talking about time.
Quantity
まで has even more versatility when it comes to talking about quantity:
この10個のチョコレートの中から好きな物を3個まで選んでください
Out of these 10 pieces of chocolate pick up to 3 that you like
You can talk about actual specific items, measurements, and all sorts of quantities with まで in Japanese.
Unexpected Situations
Other than physical limits, まで also explains uncommon situations.
Uncommon Situations
One special use of まで is talking about things that are unexpected, unusual, or uncommon.
彼女はひらがなやカタカナはもちろん漢字まで書ける
she can write in Hiragana and Katakana not to mention even in Kanji
Above we can assume that we are talking about a Non-native Japanese speaker or a small child. The reason is that it would be unusual for a small child or a non-native speaker to be able to write Kanji. If you are learning Japanese though, of course, it is not that uncommon but Japanese people may still be surprised.
Putting in a lot of Effort
Finally, you can show that someone goes through a lot of work for something with まで. This usage is close to talking about a limit. You could talk about someone who is desperate to get married like the sentence below:
婚約指輪を買うために、借金までした
I even took out a loan to buy an engagement ring
まで in Japanese is not the same as Until
One extra grammar point about まで. In English, if you say I will be out until Monday it means you will be back on Monday. However, if you say the same thing in Japanese it means something different.
月曜日まで休みです
I will be on vacation through Monday (I will be back Tuesday)
So, just remember that when talking about durations that まで includes the point that the duration ends.