From
The particle から has various grammatical uses but its most basic meaning in Japanese is “from”. Like English, it can be used in reference to a physical place or a point in time, e.g. “take a glass from the cupboard”, “study from 5pm”.
| 私は 明日から 勉強を 始めます。 |
| I will start studying from tomorrow. |
| 私は 家から 図書館に 行きます。 |
| I will go to the library from home. |
| 明日、友達から 手紙を もらいました。 |
| I received a letter from my friend. |
| 鞄から 財布を 取り出しました。 |
| I took my wallet out of my bag. |
Until
The particle まで means “until” and can be appended to nouns and the dictionary form of verbs.
| 来年の 三月まで 先生の 授業を 受けます。 |
| I’ll take the teacher’s seminar until March next year |
| 毎日、六時から 八時まで 新聞を 読みます。 |
| Everyday from 6 o’clock to 8 o’clock I read the newspaper. |
You can also add まで to the standard form of the verb (“until I do something”). You cannot do this with から as you will see later.
| この 漢字を 覚えるまで 友達と 遊びません。 |
| I won’t hang out with my friend until I’ve memorised this kanji. |
| 私は お母さんが 帰るまで 待ちます。 |
| I will wait until my mother returns home. |
Note how in the last example sentence the が particle was used. This links “mother” to the verb “return home” so it’s clear that she is not the one waiting.
If we add a に to まで the meaning becomes “by”, e.g. I will finish by tomorrow.
| ５時までに 電話します。 |
| I will call you by 5 o’clock. |
| 金曜日までに お店に 予約を 入れます。 |
| I will book the restaurant by Friday. |