from (source, start-point) / until (endpoint, limit)
Form: noun + から (from, starting point). noun + まで (until, endpoint). Often paired: A から B まで = from A to B.
Meaning: から marks where something begins (in space, time, source, or cause). まで marks where it stops.
Key uses:
- Space: 家から駅まで歩く walk from home to the station.
- Time: 月曜から金曜まで from Monday to Friday.
- Source of an action or thing: 先生から本をもらう receive a book from the teacher, 手紙は母から来た the letter came from my mother.
- Cause / reason (から only, after a plain-form clause): 雨だから、行かない I won't go because it's raining. In this use, から acts like because — the whole preceding clause becomes the reason.
まで ≠ に: に marks arrival (a single point); まで marks the entire extent up to that point. 駅に行く go to the station; 駅まで走る run all the way to the station (emphasizes the whole distance covered).
vs. より: より is a formal alternative to から for from in written registers, and is also the standard than particle in comparisons (A は B より大きい A is bigger than B).
Furigana is above every kanji; the pattern is already filled in.
東京＿＿大阪まで新幹線で行きます。
I go from Tokyo to Osaka by shinkansen.
9時＿＿5時まで働きます。
I work from 9 to 5.
駅から家＿＿歩きました。
I walked from the station all the way home.