Learn about the limitation-marking particle
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| Hi, everyone. |
| Welcome to the Ultimate Japanese Particle Guide. |
| In this lesson, you'll learn the particle... |
| まで (made) |
| This particle marks the time or place an action ends. It's also called the limitation particle. |
| It means "until" or "to" in English. |
| Let's see an example. |
| 明日まで待ちます。 (Ashita made machimasu.) |
| "I will wait until tomorrow." |
| Which expression marks the limitation? |
| 明日まで (Ashita made) |
| "until tomorrow." |
| Let's an example with a place as arriving point. |
| 駅まで歩きます。 (Eki made arukimasu.) |
| "I walk to the station." The expression that marks the destination is... |
| 駅まで (Eki made) |
| "to the station." |
| Let's take a look at a few more examples. |
| 試験は８時までです。 (Shiken wa hachi-ji made desu.) |
| Literally, this means “The exam is until eight,” so it can be translated as “The exam ends at eight.” |
| ミーティングは五時までです。(Mītingu wa go-ji made desu.) |
| Literally, it mean “The meeting is until five,” so it can be translated as "The meeting finishes at five." |
| 東京までバスで行きます。(Tōkyō made basu de ikimasu.) |
| "I will go by bus to Tokyo." |
| This particle can also indicate a limit, extent, or an unexpected object. |
| It means "as far as," "up to," or "even" in English. |
| Let's hear an example. |
| 子供まで携帯電話を持っている。(Kodomo made keitai denwa o motteiru.) |
| "Even children have their own cell phones." In this sentence the expression that indicates an extent is "even children" |
| 子供まで (kodomo made) |
| This gives a specific meaning to the sentence. It's clear that, for the speaker, children having their own cell phones is something unexpected. |
| Let's take a look at a few more examples with the same particle used to describe the extent of something or an unexpected object... |
| 魚が好きです。骨まで食べます。(Sakana ga suki desu. Hone made tabemasu.) |
| "I like fish. I even eat the bones." |
| 彼はお辞儀までしました。(Kare wa ojigi made shimashita.) |
| "He even bowed to me." |
| ディズニーランドでは子供から大人まで楽しめる。(Dizunīrando de wa kodomo kara otona made tanoshimeru.) |
| "At Disneyland, not only children but even adults can have fun." |
| Now, let's use what you learned in this lesson. |
| We learned how to say "I will wait until tomorrow." |
| 明日まで待ちます。 (Ashita made machimasu.) |
| Here the particle まで (made) marks the time the action ends, a limitation. It can also mark the place an action ends. The structure is... |
| [limitation] まで (made) |
| Now let's try saying "I'll go up to the peak of the mountain." using the same structure. |
| Here is the word for "peak of the mountain." |
| 山頂 (sanchō) |
| Try to say "I'll go up to the peak of the mountain." in Japanese. [pause] |
| The answer is... |
| 山頂まで行きます。(Sanchō made ikimasu.) |
| Did you get it right? In this sentence, the particle marks the place the action ends, the arriving point. |
| Let's try one more. We also learned how to say "Even children have their own cell phones." |
| 子供まで携帯電話を持っている。(Kodomo made keitai denwa o motteiru.) |
| Here the particle まで (made) indicates an unexpected object. |
| The structure is... |
| [unexpected object] まで（made) |
| Now let's try saying "Even adults enjoy this game.” using the same structure. |
| Here are the words for "adults" and “to enjoy this game." |
| 大人 (Otona) |
| このゲームを楽しんでいます (kono gēmu o tanoshinde imasu) |
| Try to say "Even adults enjoy this game" in Japanese. [pause] |
| The answer is... |
| 大人までこのゲームを楽しんでいます。(Otona made kono gēmu o tanoshinde imasu.) |
| Well done! In this case, the particle まで (made) indicates that, for the speaker, adults enjoying the game is something unexpected. |
| In this lesson, you learned about the particle... |
| まで |
| We hope you enjoyed our Ultimate Japanese Particles Guide. Until next time. Bye! |
| Bye~ |
Comments
Hide