Structure
Verb + まで
Details
Part of Speech
Noun
Word Type
Adverbial Particle
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Standard
About Verb + まで
まで is a particle that roughly means 'as far as (A)', or 'until the point of (A)'. When used with verbs, it is often translated as 'until (A) happens'.
Because まで means 'as far as/until the point of', it cannot be used with verbs in past tense, as would usually be the case in English. Due to this, past tense will be made clear by the context of the story, or verbs that come later in the sentence.
When used with a place, まで functions similarly to に. This means that someone or something will go 'to' the place, but not go any further.
Caution
To get a better idea of how まで is used in relation to the past, let's have a look at another example, and how it would translate in English.
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授業が始まるまで、先生が来なかった。The teacher didn't come until the class started.
Here we can see that the English sentence will say 'started', but 始まる 'start' (non-past tense) is required in Japanese. However, later in the sentence, 来なかった (past tense) is used. In this way, the overall meaning stays the same, while being slightly different to what an English native speaker would expect.
Synonyms
Examples
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映画が始まるまで、友達と話した。
Until the movie started, I talked with my friend.
彼が来るまで、日本語を勉強します。
Until he comes, I will study Japanese.
カタカナを覚えるまで、私は寝ない。
Until I memorize katakana, I won't sleep.
その漢字を覚えるまで、辞書を使う。
Until I remember that kanji, I will use a dictionary.
お風呂に入るまで、ゆっくりしたい。
Until I get in the bath, I want to relax.
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Verb + まで – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (1 in total)
NickavGnaro
All the given examples have the verb in the present form only. Are there any examples of the verb being in the past form? Or is the structure supposed to be Verb[る] + まで?
For instance, instead of
映画が始まるまで、友達と話した。
, could one instead say
映画が始まったまで、友達と話した。
without any change in meaning?
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