から and まで: From … Until

から and まで are the two bookends of Japanese. から marks where something starts — a time, a place, a source — and まで marks where it ends. They work exactly the same way for a clock as for a map: 九時から (from nine o'clock) mirrors 東京から (from Tokyo), and 五時まで (until five) mirrors 大阪まで (as far as Osaka). Learn one and you have basically learned all four uses, because the logic never changes: から is the near edge, まで is the far edge.

The one thing to keep in your head from the start: these are postpositions. They come after the noun, glued to its right side, never before it. English says "from Tokyo"; Japanese says 東京から — literally "Tokyo-from." Everything else on this page follows from that.

から: the starting edge

から attaches to the noun that marks the beginning of a stretch of time, or the point/source a movement comes out of.

In time, から answers starting when?

Notice that second sentence contains から twice — once as "from eight" (a time), and once as "because" at the end. That second から is a different job entirely, covered below and on its own page.

In space and source, から marks where a thing or a movement comes from.

That last one shows から marking a giver — the source an email, a gift, or a phone call comes out of. Same idea as a physical starting point: the message travelled from the friend to you.

まで: the far edge

まで attaches to the noun that marks the endpoint — the limit a stretch reaches and stops at.

In time, まで answers up until when?

In space, まで marks how far a movement or distance reaches.

Here まで means "as far as / all the way to." It is subtly different from に (to, into), which we contrast below: まで stresses the whole distance covered up to the endpoint, while に just names the destination you end up at.

から〜まで: marking a whole span

Put them together and you frame a complete span — a start and a finish in one breath. This is the workhorse pattern.

The spatial version is identical in shape — just swap clock and calendar for places on a map.

Either edge can stand alone. If only the start matters, you drop まで (五時から, "from five on"); if only the finish matters, you drop から (五時まで, "until five"). You are not obliged to name both.

から〜まで as "everyone/everything from X to Y"

Because から〜まで frames a full range, Japanese uses it idiomatically to mean the whole spectrum — the English "from … to …" of "from kids to grandparents, everybody loved it."

朝から晩まで (from morning till night) is a set phrase worth memorising whole — it's the Japanese equivalent of "from dawn to dusk."

Why not に? Points versus spans

This is the number-one confusion for English speakers, because English uses the single word to for two jobs that Japanese keeps apart. に pins a single point — the moment an event happens, or the destination you arrive at. から and まで stretch between two points. You cannot use に to mark the beginning or the reach of a span.

That に marks the instant the meeting begins — a single point on the clock. But if you want to say the meeting runs from nine onward, you need から: 九時から会議だ. And to say it runs until eleven, まで: 十一時まで. に can name the start-instant of an event, but it can never mean "from … onward" or "up until."

A quick word on まで versus までに

まで means "up to and continuously until" — the action keeps going right to the limit (五時まで働く, "work until five, the whole time"). Add に and you get までに, which means "by five" — the action happens once, at some point before the limit (五時までに来る, "come by five"). They look almost identical and English speakers mix them constantly, so they get a page of their own: see までに: by a deadline. For now, just file away that まで ≠ までに.

から's other life: "because"

The same から that means "from a time" also does completely separate duty as a conjunction meaning "because / so." When it follows a verb or a full clause rather than a plain noun of time or place, it's the reason-marker: 高いから買わない ("it's expensive, so I won't buy it"). It's the same shape but a different grammar slot, and it has its own page: see から for reasons. Recognising which から you're looking at is easy — a time/place noun in front means "from"; a whole clause in front means "because."

Common Mistakes

1. Using に to mark the start of a span. English "from nine to five" tempts learners to reach for に, but に can't open a span.

2. Slipping に in before まで, turning a route into a deadline. Adding に makes までに, which means "by," not "as far as."

3. Using に instead of まで for distance/extent. に names a destination, but for "how far it reaches," Japanese wants まで.

4. Reaching for までに when you mean "the whole time until." A recurring or continuous span takes plain まで.

5. Reversing the edges. から always fronts the earlier/nearer point, まで the later/farther one — never the other way around.

Key Takeaways

• から = the near edge (start), まで = the far edge (end) — in time and in space. The logic is identical for clocks and maps.
• They are postpositions: 東京から, never "from 東京."
• から〜まで frames a full span, and idiomatically means "everything/everyone from X to Y."
• Either edge can stand alone (五時から, 五時まで).
• に pins one point; から/まで stretch between two. Don't use に to open or extend a span.
• まで (until, continuous) ≠ までに (by, one-time). Adding に changes the meaning — see the までに page.
• The から that follows a whole clause is a separate "because" word — see から for reasons.