から・
から is where something starts and まで is where it stops: a time, a place, a page. Each works alone, and together they are "from … to …".
The library is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
I came from Kyoto.
I walked as far as the station.
How to form it
Noun + から／まで
A time, a day, a place, a page, a number. To ask: いつから (since when), 何時まで (until what time), どこから (where from), どこまで (how far). After a whole sentence, から is a different word: "because".
Until something happens
Verb (dictionary form) + まで
バスが来るまで, "until the bus comes".
From when, until when
I work from Monday through Friday.
I will be at the office until 5 p.m.
The day you name is included: 金曜日まで takes in Friday.
Since when have you lived in Japan?
Since last year.
"Since" is から too. English switches to "have lived". Japanese uses ています.
English says a sale "starts" and a shop "opens" or "closes". Japanese often just ends on からです or までです.
The sale starts tomorrow.
Reception is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
What hours is the bank open?
From nine to three.
With a negative, まで is "not until"
We won't know the result until next week.
From where, how far
から来ました is how you say where you are from: カナダから来ました, "I'm from Canada".
I will travel from Tokyo to Osaka by bullet train.
It takes forty minutes by bus from the airport to the hotel.
To the station, please.
In a taxi. どちら is a polite どこ.
A person can be the starting point: the one a call, a letter or a present comes from.
I had a call from my mother.
まで or に?
English "to" covers both.
This bus goes to the airport.
Which bus it is: the one for the airport.
This bus goes as far as the airport.
How far it runs: all the way to the airport, not part of the way.
Both are right for the same bus. まで is the one for how far, and the one that pairs with から.
歩く, 走る and 泳ぐ say how you move, not where you go, so they take まで.
Not said: 学校に
(I walked to school.)
学校まで歩きました.
Pages, numbers, prices
Please read pages 10 through 15.
Please count from one to ten.
Shoes at this store start at 3,000 yen.
Until something happens
A verb before まで stays in its dictionary form, even when the sentence is about the past. English changes it: "until my friend came".
Let's wait here until the rain stops.
I waited at the station until my friend came.
Not said: 友だちが
(I waited at the station until my friend came.)
まで or までに?
まで is "until": something goes on up to that point. までに is "by": something gets done at some moment before it.
I'll wait here until five.
The waiting goes on, right up to five.
Please come here by five.
Coming happens once, at five or before.
Words you'll use every day
ここまでup to here
That's all for today.
How a teacher ends a class.
朝から晩までfrom morning till night
I worked from morning till night yesterday.
Close neighbours
"Because". Before this から a noun needs だ or です: 明日から is "from tomorrow", 明日だから is "because it's tomorrow".
It is going to rain, so I will take an umbrella.
After something you wouldn't expect, まで is "even": things went that far.
My little brother, who hates vegetables, even ate the green peppers.
Check yourself
1What does this mean?
郵便局は
Choose an answer to see why.
2Which one fits?
この本は
Choose an answer to see why.
3"I waited until the shop opened."
Choose an answer to see why.
More detail
"Begins at nine"
With 始まる (begin), the start time can take に or から.
Classes begin at nine in the morning.
Before a noun
の joins them to a noun: 東京までの切符, "a ticket to Tokyo"; 友だちからの手紙, "a letter from a friend".
More sentences
My new job starts next Monday.
The store is open until 9 p.m.
The rain continued until morning.
How far is it from here to the river?
This train goes from Osaka to Tokyo.
The cherry blossom festival runs from March 20 to April 5.
Let's read up to page ten today.
The children can count up to ten.