まで details
write + until
kaku made
until; as far as — the far end of a stretch the action fills
meaning: until you write
駅に着くまで、この地図を見ていてください。
eki ni tsuku made, kono chizu o mite ite kudasai.
Please keep looking at this map until you arrive at the station. neutral
準備できるまで、ちょっと待ってて。
junbi dekiru made, chotto mattete.
Hang on a second until I'm ready. casual
- dictionary form
- noun
Examples
until — the action continues across the whole stretch and stops at the point named
駅に着くまで、この地図を見ていてください。
eki ni tsukumade, kono chizu o mite ite kudasai.
Please keep looking at this map until you arrive at the station. neutral
準備できるまで、ちょっと待ってて。
junbi dekiru made, chotto mattete.
Hang on a second until I'm ready. casual
昨日は五時まで図書館で勉強していました。
kinou wa goji made toshokan de benkyou shite imashita.
Yesterday I studied at the library until five. neutral
開演までロビーでお待ちください。
kaien made robii de o machi kudasai.
Please wait in the lobby until the performance begins. formal
as far as — the far end of a distance the movement covers
バス、もう終わっちゃったから、駅まで歩こう。
basu, mou owatchatta kara, eki made arukou.
The buses have stopped already, so let's walk as far as the station. casual
この電車は次の駅までしか行きません。
kono densha wa tsugi no eki made shika ikimasen.
This train only goes as far as the next station. neutral
Formation
{V}までattaches to dictionary form{N}までattaches to noun
Related patterns
Similar
Both bound an activity in time, but まで names a plain endpoint and asserts nothing about it, while うちに frames the stretch as a window that is closing (若いうちに・熱いうちに) and expects an action you would otherwise lose the chance to do.
Lookalikes
The verb decides which one you want — まで says the action runs right up to the endpoint (五時まで待つ "wait until five"), までに says it only has to happen at some point before it (五時までに来る "come by five"), so a durative verb takes まで and a one-shot verb までに.
Same まで, but on a て-form it stops being temporal and becomes scalar — 終わるまで待つ is "wait until it ends", while 借金してまで買う is "go so far as to borrow money to buy it", a cost the speaker is judging excessive.
〜から〜まで pairs から as the STARTING point of a stretch (九時から五時まで), which is a different から from the reason particle that closes a clause — only the reason one can be answered with どうして.