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:

東京とうきょうから大阪おおさかまで電車でんしゃで3時間じかんかかる
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.

毎日まいにち午後ごご5時まで働はたいています
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個このチョコレートの中なかから好すきな物ものを3個まで選えらんでください
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.

彼女かのじょはひらがなやカタカナはもちろん漢字かんじまで書かける
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:

婚約指輪こんやくゆびわを買かうために、借金しゃっきんまでした
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.

月曜日げつようびまで休やすみです
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.