までにBy ~, By the time that ~, Before ~

Structure

Verb + までに
Noun + までに

Details

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Standard
Rare Kanji
迄

About までに

までに is a combination of two different types of particles. The adverbial particle まで, and the case marking particle に. までに is verb similar to まで when it means 'until'. However, there is one very important distinction. This distinction is that までに means 'by', not 'until'.

To use までに, we will need to attach it to the end of a noun, or verb in the non-past form.

To understand the difference between まで, and までに, we need to remember that に usually marks a 'target', or a 'destination' for where something will happen. In this case, まで is the 'target' that に is marking. This is due to the fact that まで means 'as far as' (まで is sometimes written using kanji 迄(まで), especially in older/formal texts, and newspapers).

In this way, までに more literally means '(A) as far as (に marks the target), (B).

Fun Fact

Originally, まで meant 'as far as' in regard to the passing of a particular event. However, in modern Japanese, most people will assume that the speaker means 'by the beginning of (A)'. Due to this, sentences that have a very broad event, such as 夏(なつ)までに could actually be interpreted as 'by the start of summer', or 'before the end of summer', depending on who you are talking to. In these cases, it would be better to add a more specific time frame.

冬(ふゆ)が終(お)わるまでにスキーをしたい。

I want to go skiing by the end of winter. (Not just 'by winter', but specifically 'by the end of winter')

Examples

--:--

明日(あした)までに電話(でんわ)をください。

Please call by tomorrow.

お昼(ひる)までには着(つ)きます。

I will arrive by noon.

１０時(じゅうじ)までに帰(かえ)ってきてください。

Could you please come back home by 10?

来週(らいしゅう)までには終(お)わります。

I will be done by next week.

８時(はちじ)までに学校(がっこう)につかなくてはいけない。

I have to arrive at school by 8 o'clock.

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までに – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (12 in total)

Jake
by, by the time, before
Structure
- Noun + までに
View on Bunpro
MissDagger

Could someone explain why this uses 帰ってきて instead of just 帰って? I realize it probably has nothing to do with までに, but I wasn’t sure where to ask a question about a specific example sentence.
Pushindawood
Hey! Think of 帰る as just the act of “moving toward home” and くる as “coming toward” the speaker (home). Since the movement in 帰る isn’t understood until we have more information, let’s look at a few examples with just 帰る:

家に帰る - いえにかえる - I will go home.
トムは家に帰る - とむはいえにかえる - Tom will go home.
今から家に帰るね - いまからいえにかえるね - I will go home now, okay?
In all of these examples, the speaker is not at home, but in a different location, and will be going home.

Now let’s look at some examples with 帰ってくる

何時に帰ってくるの？ - なんじにかえってくるの？ - When will you come back home?
ママは今から帰ってくるって - ままはいまからかえってくるって - Mom says that she is on her way back home now.
In both of these examples the speaker is at home, referring to someone coming back home at some point.
8時ぐらいに帰ってくると思う - ８じぐらいにかえってくるとおもう - I think that I will be home around 8
Said by someone that is still at home, talking about coming back home in the future.

In summary:
帰る is used to express the moveme...
MissDagger
Ah! I get it. So because the speaker is home, they add 来る. I assume it would sound wrong to a Japanese person if someone didn’t add 来る in the example of someone being home and asking someone else to come home too (to the same home). Is that correct?
Pushindawood
That’s right!
CrisH
5時までに漢字100文字覚えるのは大変です。
Is 文字 a counter in this sentence? The wiktionary page for it doesn’t say, but obviously it could just be missing from there.
matt_in_mito

CrisH:

Is 文字 a counter in this sentence?

Yes. You can also say 100字 but when saying it in conversation, some people might think you’re talking about 時間 so I would say you’re better off using 文字.
CrisH
Cool, thanks
benuidede
I’m not sure if I should ask this in the まで discussion or this one, but can this be used for counters also ? I was trying to read this interview and this sentence came up :
またスイス公演も開演1時間まで政府側の許可が下りないという事態に陥りました。
would saying 〇〇X時間まで always mean “until X hours before 〇〇” ? Would it work with other counters like in
終わり３ページまで主人公は死ぬと思ってた。I thought the main character would die until 3 pages before the end (of the book).
mrnoone
Hey!

Yes, you can use number + counter + まで and it means “up to (up until) number + counter”.

beguiled:

終わり３ページまで主人公は死ぬと思ってた。I thought the main character would die until 3 pages before the end (of the book).

Yup, it is correct.
To make it simple you can think of it as 終わりの３ページまで (or 最後の３ページまで）.
I thought that the hero would die up to the last three pages. (correct Japanese btw!)

By the way, AまでにB means “by”. A expresses deadline before which something (B) happens.

明日までに答えてください。
Please answer me by tomorrow.
<...
pokedots
mrnoone
@pokedots

まで, when used with location means “to” or “as far as”.
If we translate the sentence more literary, “If I go with my friends to the city to have some fun, I think that it will be impossible for me to be back by ten.”

Another example:
私はバスで京都まで行った。
I went to Kyoto by bus.

I hope it helps,
Cheers!
pokedots
Thank you! I didn’t think about the まで as referring to the 行いったら