The postposition तक tak marks an endpoint or outer limit: स्टेशन तक sṭeśan tak “as far as the station,” पाँच बजे तक pā̃c baje tak “by/until five,” and घुटनों तक ghuṭnoṃ tak “up to the knees.” It answers “how far?” or “up to what point?” rather than merely locating an event.
English divides this territory among to, up to, as far as, until, and by. Hindi uses one endpoint marker and lets the predicate and context determine whether the limit is spatial, temporal, quantitative, or abstract.
Spatial endpoints
With movement, तक identifies the farthest point reached or the intended limit of the route. It commonly suggests “as far as,” not necessarily entry into or arrival at the place as a destination state.
हम स्टेशन तक पैदल जाएँगे।
ham sṭeśan tak paidal jāẽge.
We'll walk as far as the station.
टैक्सी मुझे होटल के दरवाज़े तक छोड़ गई।
ṭaiksī mujhe hoṭal ke darvāze tak choṛ gaī.
The taxi dropped me off right at the hotel entrance.
Compare मैं दिल्ली जा रहा हूँ “I am going to Delhi,” which names the destination without a postposition, with मैं दिल्ली तक जा रहा हूँ “I am going as far as Delhi,” which presents Delhi as the route's endpoint. तक is therefore not an automatic translation of every English to.
Masculine -आ nouns are oblique before तक: दरवाज़ा → दरवाज़े तक. Plurals also show the normal oblique plural: कमरे → कमरों तक, सीढ़ियाँ → सीढ़ियों तक.
आवाज़ ऊपर के कमरों तक पहुँच रही है।
āvāz ūpar ke kamroṃ tak pahũc rahī hai.
The sound is reaching the rooms upstairs.
Temporal endpoints: “until” and “by”
With a continuing state or activity, तक normally means until: the situation holds up to the named time. With a completion or deadline, it is often translated by: completion must occur no later than that point.
दुकान रात नौ बजे तक खुली रहती है।
dukān rāt nau baje tak khulī rahtī hai.
The shop stays open until nine at night.
कृपया शुक्रवार तक रिपोर्ट भेज दीजिए।
kripyā śukravār tak riporṭ bhej dījie.
Please send the report by Friday.
The difference comes from the predicate, not from two kinds of तक. खुली रहती है describes duration, while भेज दीजिए describes an event to be completed. In precise scheduling, “by Friday” usually includes Friday as the last acceptable day unless context states otherwise.
Contrast सोमवार को बैठक है “the meeting is on Monday” with सोमवार तक जवाब चाहिए “an answer is needed by Monday.” Temporal को locates an event at a time point; तक sets a limit.
Ranges with से ... तक
To state both boundaries, Hindi uses से ... तक: “from X to Y.” The first phrase marks the source, and the second marks the endpoint.
दफ़्तर सोमवार से शुक्रवार तक खुला रहता है।
daftar somvār se śukravār tak khulā rahtā hai.
The office is open from Monday through Friday.
दिल्ली से आगरा तक सड़क अच्छी है।
dillī se āgrā tak saṛak acchī hai.
The road is good from Delhi to Agra.
English to Friday can be ambiguous about whether Friday is included. Hindi शुक्रवार तक conventionally sets Friday as the endpoint and often includes it, but opening hours and ticket validity can still require practical clarification. Language cannot replace the policy being described.
Height, quantity, and other measurable limits
The endpoint need not be a place or time. तक can mark the highest physical level, greatest quantity, or furthest degree reached.
बारिश में पानी घुटनों तक आ गया।
bāriś meṃ pānī ghuṭnoṃ tak ā gayā.
In the rain, the water rose to knee level.
इस कार्ड से आप दस हज़ार रुपये तक निकाल सकते हैं।
is kārḍ se āp das hazār rupaye tak nikāl sakte haiṃ.
With this card, you can withdraw up to ten thousand rupees.
In the second example, तक establishes a maximum, not a guaranteed amount. Similar productive phrases include पचास प्रतिशत तक “up to fifty percent” and दो घंटे तक “for up to two hours.” English for in a duration limit therefore corresponds naturally to Hindi तक, not के लिए in every context.
Pronouns and deictic expressions
Personal pronouns take postpositional stems: मुझ तक “as far as/to me,” तुम तक, आप तक, उस तक, उन तक. Unlike मुझसे, मुझ तक remains two written words.
यह ख़बर अभी मुझ तक नहीं पहुँची थी।
yah xabar abhī mujh tak nahīṃ pahũcī thī.
This news had not reached me yet.
Place adverbs combine freely: यहाँ तक “up to here,” वहाँ तक “as far as there,” कहाँ तक “how far/to what extent.”
यहाँ तक बस जाती है; आगे पैदल जाना पड़ेगा।
yahā̃ tak bas jātī hai; āge paidal jānā paṛegā.
The bus goes only this far; we'll have to walk from here.
जहाँ तक and यहाँ तक कि
Endpoint meaning extends into two very common discourse expressions. जहाँ तक X का सवाल है means “as far as X is concerned” and delimits the topic. It is common in neutral and formal discussion. यहाँ तक कि means “even,” introducing an unexpectedly extreme case; it is lexicalized and must be learned as a unit.
जहाँ तक बजट का सवाल है, हमें ख़र्च कम करना होगा।
jahā̃ tak bajaṭ kā savāl hai, hameṃ xarc kam karnā hogā.
As far as the budget is concerned, we'll have to reduce spending.
बारिश में यहाँ तक कि मुख्य सड़क भी बंद हो गई।
bāriś meṃ yahā̃ tak ki mukhya saṛak bhī band ho gaī.
In the rain, even the main road was closed.
In careful editing, यहाँ तक कि already contributes “even”; pairing it with भी is widespread and natural, though the sentence can often be tightened by using one focus strategy. These discourse uses are grammaticalized extensions, not literal routes.
A natural exchange
तुम कब तक पहुँचोगे? — शायद सात बजे तक; ट्रैफ़िक बहुत है।
tum kab tak pahũcoge? — śāyad sāt baje tak; ṭraifik bahut hai.
By what time will you arrive? — Probably by seven; traffic is heavy. (informal)
Here कब तक asks for the outer time limit, whereas bare कब asks simply “when?”
Common Mistakes
1. Putting तक before its endpoint
❌ हम तक स्टेशन पैदल गए।
Incorrect: तक follows the endpoint phrase.
✅ हम स्टेशन तक पैदल गए।
ham sṭeśan tak paidal gae.
We walked as far as the station.
2. Leaving a changing noun direct
❌ टैक्सी दरवाज़ा तक गई।
Incorrect: दरवाज़ा becomes oblique दरवाज़े before तक.
✅ टैक्सी दरवाज़े तक गई।
ṭaiksī darvāze tak gaī.
The taxi went up to the entrance.
3. Using a citation-form personal pronoun
❌ संदेश मैं तक नहीं पहुँचा।
Incorrect: मैं takes the postpositional stem मुझ.
✅ संदेश मुझ तक नहीं पहुँचा।
sandeś mujh tak nahīṃ pahũcā.
The message did not reach me.
4. Replacing an event time with a deadline
❌ हमारी उड़ान मंगलवार तक है।
Incorrect for a flight scheduled on Tuesday: तक creates an endpoint, not a simple event date.
✅ हमारी उड़ान मंगलवार को है।
hamārī uṛān maṅgalvār ko hai.
Our flight is on Tuesday.
Key Takeaways
- तक marks a spatial, temporal, quantitative, or abstract endpoint.
- With duration it often means “until”; with completion it often means “by.”
- से ... तक states a full range, and the endpoint is normally inclusive unless context says otherwise.
- Nouns are oblique before तक; pronouns use stems such as मुझ and उस.
- यहाँ तक कि “even” is a lexicalized discourse expression.
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- से as source and separationA2 — Use से for origins, departure points, separation, and starting times with correct oblique nouns and fused pronoun forms.
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