から and まで in Japanese

In Brief

Put から after a starting point to mean “from” or “since,” and put まで after an endpoint to mean “until,” “to,” or “as far as”: 九時から五時まで means “from nine to five.” They can appear together or separately, and they work with times, places, numbers, and other kinds of range.

Overview

から (kara) and まで (made) are particles—short words placed after another expression to show its role. English puts “from” and “until” before a time or place, but Japanese labels the point afterward: 東京から is “from Tokyo,” while 五時まで is “until five.”

This is an early A1 pattern that you will meet in opening hours, timetables, travel directions, work schedules, and everyday questions. The beginner rule requires no conjugation: attach から to the beginning and まで to the end. You can therefore build useful phrases as soon as you know a few times and place names.

Although English chooses among “from,” “since,” “to,” “until,” and “up to,” Japanese organizes these meanings around two simple ideas: source/start and limit/end. That makes the core pattern easy. The main subtlety comes later, when まで is contrasted with までに (“by a deadline”) or with destination particles such as に and へ.

How It Works

The basic patterns

Pattern	Core meaning	Example
starting point + から	from; since	九時から — from nine
endpoint + まで	until; to; as far as	五時まで — until five
start + から + end + まで	from … to/until …	九時から五時まで — from nine to five

The particles follow the words they mark. A useful way to read 九時から五時まで is “nine-from, five-until.” Do not copy English word order by putting the particles before the time expressions.

から marks where something starts

Use から after a starting point:

• 八時から — from eight o’clock
• 月曜日から — from Monday
• 昨日から — since yesterday
• 東京から — from Tokyo
• 一から — from one

English normally distinguishes “from” from “since.” Japanese can use から for both; the time and the rest of the sentence supply the difference.

• 授業は十時からです。 — The class starts at ten. / The class is from ten.
• 十時から待っています。 — I have been waiting since ten.

The second sentence describes a state continuing from ten until now, so “since” is natural in English. Do not assume that から itself expresses an English perfect tense. Japanese expresses the situation in its own way, often with 〜ています, and the English translation depends on context.

まで marks how far something extends

Use まで after an endpoint or limit:

• 六時まで — until six
• 金曜日まで — until Friday
• 駅まで — to/as far as the station
• 百まで — up to one hundred
• 最後まで — until/all the way to the end

With time, まで usually marks the point up to which an activity or state continues. With place, it emphasizes the limit reached by a journey or action.

• 六時まで働きます。 — I work until six.
• 駅まで歩きます。 — I walk to the station.

The idea is not simply “destination.” In 駅まで歩きます, the walking extends as far as the station. This is why まで also works with non-spatial limits such as 最後まで読みます (“read to the end”).

Using both particles

When both boundaries are stated, label each one:

Kind of range	Japanese phrase	English
hours	九時から五時まで	from nine to five
days	月曜日から金曜日まで	from Monday to Friday
places	東京から大阪まで	from Tokyo to Osaka
numbers	一から十まで	from one to ten
sequence	最初から最後まで	from beginning to end

Neither particle changes according to tense, politeness, or whether the range is temporal or spatial. The verb normally comes later and tells you what happens across that range:

家から会社まで電車で行きます。 — I go from home to work by train.

Here, 家から会社まで defines the route, 電車で gives the means of transport, and 行きます gives the action.

Using only one boundary

から and まで are independent. Use only the boundary you need:

• 来週から始めます。 — I will start next week.
• 明日まで休みです。 — I am off until tomorrow.
• ここから見えます。 — It is visible from here.
• そこまで走りました。 — I ran as far as there.

Japanese does not require you to invent a second boundary. If a shop is open 十時から, the closing time may be unknown or irrelevant. If homework is due 金曜日まで, the starting point does not need to be stated.

Questions about boundaries

Use 何時 (“what time”), いつ (“when”), or どこ (“where”) in the same slot as the missing boundary:

• 何時からですか。 — What time does it start?
• 何時までですか。 — Until what time is it?
• いつから日本語を勉強していますか。 — Since when have you been studying Japanese?
• どこからどこまで歩きましたか。 — From where to where did you walk?

In conversation, the topic is often omitted when it is obvious. At a museum, 何時までですか naturally asks how late it is open.

Examples in Context

Japanese	English	Note
九時から五時まで働きます。	I work from nine to five.	A complete time range
店は朝十時から夜八時までです。	The shop is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.	です can describe opening hours
会議は何時からですか。	What time does the meeting start?	Asking for a starting point
図書館は何時までですか。	How late is the library open?	Literally, “until what time?”
昨日から雨が降っています。	It has been raining since yesterday.	A situation continuing from the past
来月から日本語を勉強します。	I will study Japanese starting next month.	A future starting point
金曜日までにレポートを出してください。	Please submit the report by Friday.	Deadline: までに, not plain まで
東京から大阪まで三時間です。	It takes three hours from Tokyo to Osaka.	A place range and its duration
家から駅まで歩きました。	I walked from home to the station.	Both ends of a route
空港までバスで行きます。	I will go to the airport by bus.	まで emphasizes the journey’s endpoint
ここまで歩きました。	I walked as far as here.	まで used without から
一から十まで数えてください。	Please count from one to ten.	A numerical range
この本を最初から最後まで読みました。	I read this book from beginning to end.	An abstract range
子供から大人まで楽しめます。	Everyone from children to adults can enjoy it.	A range of people

Common Mistakes

Reversing the particles

• Wrong: 九時まで五時から働きます。
• Right: 九時から五時まで働きます。
• Why: The starting point takes から and comes first in the standard range pattern; the endpoint takes まで.

Putting the particle before its time or place

• Wrong: から東京まで大阪
• Right: 東京から大阪まで
• Why: Japanese particles follow the expression they mark. English “from Tokyo to Osaka” cannot be copied word for word.

Using まで for a deadline

• Wrong: 五時までメールを送ります。 when you mean “I will send the email by five.”
• Right: 五時までにメールを送ります。
• Why: Plain まで says an action continues until five. までに says it will be completed no later than five. The extra に changes the time relationship.

Compare:

• 五時まで勉強します。 — I will study until five. The studying continues.
• 五時までに宿題をします。 — I will do the homework by five. Five is a deadline for completion.

Adding に before から after a time

• Wrong: 九時にから働きます。
• Right: 九時から働きます。
• Why: から directly marks the starting time, so the ordinary time marker に is not inserted between the time and から.

Treating まで as interchangeable with every English “to”

• Potentially misleading: 駅まで行きます and 駅に行きます are not identical in focus.
• Natural choices: 駅に行きます。 “I go to the station”; 駅まで歩きます。 “I walk as far as/to the station.”
• Why: に marks the destination of movement. まで marks the endpoint or limit over which the action extends. Sometimes both produce a similar English translation, but their emphasis differs.

Usage Notes

です can finish a schedule expression

Japanese often uses a range plus です where English supplies a more specific verb:

• 仕事は九時から五時までです。 — Work is from nine to five.
• 休みは明日までです。 — The break lasts until tomorrow. / I am off until tomorrow.

In context, 何時からですか and 何時までですか are complete, natural questions. You do not always need to repeat “open,” “start,” or “finish.”

まで focuses on the limit

With movement, まで presents a place as the furthest point reached. 京都まで新幹線で行きます means that the Shinkansen journey extends to Kyoto. In everyday English, “to Kyoto” is usually enough, but remembering “as far as Kyoto” helps preserve the Japanese viewpoint.

With time, the endpoint is normally understood as the boundary at which the activity stops or the stated period ends. Exact real-world inclusion depends on the event: 店は八時までです normally means the shop closes at eight, not that a customer may begin shopping at any moment throughout the eight o’clock hour. Check schedules rather than trying to force a universal mathematical rule about whether the endpoint is included.

Politeness does not change the particles

から and まで are neutral and occur in casual and polite Japanese. Politeness appears elsewhere in the sentence:

• 五時まで働く。 — I’ll work until five. (plain)
• 五時まで働きます。 — I will work until five. (polite)

Beyond the Basics

You do not need to master the following points at A1, but they explain forms you will soon encounter.

まで versus までに

This is the most important later contrast.

Form	Meaning	What happens at the endpoint?
まで	until; up to	an action or state continues to that point
までに	by; no later than	an event is completed before or at that point

• 月曜日まで東京にいます。 — I will be in Tokyo until Monday.
• 月曜日までに東京に行きます。 — I will go to Tokyo by Monday.

A verb that naturally describes duration often goes with まで: 待つ (“wait”), 働く (“work”), いる (“be/stay”). A one-time completion often calls for までに: 出す (“submit”), 着く (“arrive”), 終える (“finish”). Meaning matters more than memorizing lists of verbs.

から can also mean “because”

After a clause (a group of words containing a predicate, such as a verb or adjective), から can give a reason:

• 雨が降っているから、家にいます。 — Because it is raining, I am staying home.

This is a different use from starting-point から. Compare 昨日から (“since yesterday”), where から follows a time noun, with 雨が降っているから (“because it is raining”), where it follows a complete statement. Context and what comes before から normally make the distinction clear.

からの and までの before a noun

A particle phrase can modify a following noun by adding の:

• 東京からの電車 — a train from Tokyo
• 駅までの道 — the route to the station
• 九時からの会議 — the meeting starting at nine

Here の connects the range phrase to a noun. Without a following noun, use the ordinary forms: 東京から来ました (“I came from Tokyo”).

Wider and emphatic ranges

The same start-to-limit structure scales beyond clock time and travel:

• 初心者から上級者まで — from beginners to advanced learners
• 頭から足まで — from head to toe
• 何から何まで — everything; every last thing

You may also see までも (“even; to the extent of”) in advanced Japanese. It contains まで but is no longer just a simple endpoint label, so learn such patterns as separate constructions when you meet them.

Practice Tips

1. Build pairs from your own week. Say when work, classes, exercise, or opening hours begin and end: 月曜日から金曜日まで, 七時から八時まで. Personal facts are easier to remember than isolated examples.
2. Practice one-boundary questions. Look at a timetable and ask 何時からですか and 何時までですか. Then answer with only the needed boundary.
3. Contrast duration with deadlines. Make pairs such as 六時まで勉強します (“study until six”) and 六時までに宿題を出します (“submit homework by six”). Saying the two aloud helps prevent the common まで/までに mistake.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Basic Particles は/が/を/に — introduces how particles label the roles of words and phrases in Japanese.