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Grammar detail: まで
まで - the various uses of まで
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The particle まで is extremely common in Japanese, and it has several slightly different usages.
まで until, up to
Most commonly, まで is used to indicate a time period or a destination, often in conjunction with から.
noun
or verb plain form
+ まで
means until (a certain time, something happens), up to (a certain place) etc.
When used with a destination, まで can usually be translated with 'to', and often is interchangeable with the particles に or へ. However, it can also convey the suggestion of 'as far as' or 'up to'. In the following example, に would mean 'I went to Kyoto', whereas by using まで, the speaker conveys the idea that Kyoto is a long way, or that it was a bigger expedition to go that far etc.
までに by, before
Adding に to まで changes the meaning to 'by' or 'before' the time or destination described. When までに is used, the second part of the sentence is completed before the situation described in the first part of the sentence.
In the above example, 必ずきてください (you must please come) is to be completed before 約束の時間 (promised time). If まで were used instead of までに, the action verb 'please come' would not make sense, but a verb describing a continuous state would work, such as:
Here, the まで tells us that until the second part of the sentence '待ってください' (please wait) continues (at least) until the situation in the first part of the sentence.
までもない goes without saying
One common set expression is までもない, usually as part of いうまでもない, which means 'it goes without saying':
までだ just, only
A final use of まで is immediately followed by some form of です, in which case it means 'just' or 'only'.
In this usage, it could usually be replaced directly with だけ.
迄
まで can be written with the kanji 迄, but this is very uncommon in modern Japanese.
Kanji used in this grammar
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