まで: 'Until' / 'To' an End Point (Meaning + Examples)

What まで marks

まで answers one question: "up to where?" or "until when?" It attaches to a noun — a time or a place — and marks the end point of an action or a stretch of time. Think of the English "until," "till," or "to (as far as)." The action keeps going continuously right up to that point and then stops.

Whether the end point is a clock time or a physical place, the shape stays the same — まで simply follows the noun, with no other change:

まで vs までに (and plain に)

Two neighbours get mistaken for まで, and knowing them apart is what the exams test.

The first is までに. They look almost identical but pull in different directions:

• まで = something continues the whole way up to that point. 5時まで働く means you work the entire time until 5.
• までに = a deadline — finish something by that point, at any moment before it. 5時までに帰る means "come home by 5" (anytime before 5 is fine).

So まで is for continuous actions (waiting, walking, staying), while までに is for one-time actions that must happen before a cutoff (finish, return, send). We will not go deep on までに here — just remember that adding に turns "until" into "by."

The second is plain に for a destination. "Walk to the station" stresses the whole journey up to the station, so it takes まで: 駅まで歩く. Plain に would only point at the goal, without that "all the way there" sense.

Where まで sits in the sentence

まで always comes after the time or place word — 駅まで, 夜まで — never まで駅. To mark a range it needs a partner: から marks the start and まで marks the end. Don't drop the から — "from 9 to 5" needs both halves (9時から5時まで), not just 5時まで.

から…まで in real sentences

The から part comes first, then まで, framing a range with a clear start and finish — in time or in space:

You can read more about the starting-point partner in the から guide.

Watch-outs

1. Mixing up まで and までに. Use まで for continuous actions (5時まで待つ = wait until 5) and までに for deadlines (5時までに出す = submit by 5).
2. Forgetting から for a range. "From 9 to 5" needs both: 9時から5時まで, not just 5時まで.
3. Using に instead of まで for a destination you travel toward gradually. "Walk to the station" stresses the whole journey up to the station: 駅まで歩く. (に simply points at the goal.)
4. Putting まで before the noun. It always comes after the time or place word: 駅まで (✓), not まで駅.

The short version

• まで = an end point: "until" (time) or "to / as far as" (place).
• It attaches after a noun: 5時まで, 駅まで.
• Pair with から for "from…to": 9時から5時まで.
• まで = continuous up to a point; までに = a deadline ("by").

Practice it