Until Then

In this Topic, we're going to learn about the particle まで. まで generally means 'until' or 'up to'. When used directly after nouns, it functions as a case-marking particle. When being used after verbs, it acts as an adverbial particle connecting two ideas.

We will also pick up from the last Topic and continue learning about the Japanese counting and number system in the details section.

このトピックに出てくる文法

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Noun + まで
Until, Till, To (but no further than)
まで is a particle that roughly means 'as far as'. Due to this, when used with regular nouns, or words that signify some kind of end point (a time or day), it is often translated as 'until', 'till', or 'to'.
When used in relation to a place, まで functions similarly to に. This means that someone or something will go 'to' the place, but not any further.
まで may also be used about points in time in the past, where 'up until' would usually be used in English.
N5 文法
Verb + まで
Until (something) happens
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.

Here we can see that the English sentence will say 'started', but 始(はじ)まる 'start' (non-past tense) is required in Japanese. However, later in the sentence, 来(こ)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.
N5 文法

詳細

Let's pick up from where we left off in the last lesson and keep exploring the Japanese number and counting system.

A Counter Offer

In Japanese, when counting something, a 'counter' word is normally needed. This is a special type of word which categorizes the type of thing being counted (like 年(ねん) for years or 人(にん) for people). Counters are used in combination with numbers, and can be used with either kun-yomi or on-yomi pronunciations depending on the exact counter and number.

The most common counting system uses つ, and it can be used to count any sort of thing. It is the descendant of the native counting system (something we learned about in the previous Topic). This system is normally only used for numbers 9 and below. The word いくつ, meaning 'how many', has its root in this system as well.

Number	Kanji	Reading
1	一つ	ひとつ
2	二つ	ふたつ
3	三つ	みっつ
4	四つ	よっつ
5	五つ	いつつ
6	六つ	むっつ
7	七つ	ななつ
8	八つ	やっつ
9	九つ	ここのつ
10	十	とお

Another common counter is the one for years, 年(ねん). Note that the word for a year in general is pronounced とし, but the counter is pronounced ねん, even though both use the same kanji (年).

年(ねん) is used along with the on-yomi counting system, with 4 and 7 generally using kun-yomi (よ and なな), although 7 can also use しち in some situations. Note that here 9 is used with either く or きゅう.

Year	Kanji	Reading
1	一年	いちねん
2	二年	にねん
3	三年	さんねん
4	四年	よねん
5	五年	ごねん
6	六年	ろくねん
7	七年	しちねん / ななねん
8	八年	はちねん
9	九年	くねん / きゅうねん
10	十年	じゅうねん

The counter for people is 人(にん), which uses a mix of kun-yomi and on-yomi. 1 and 2 use full kun-yomi. 4 normally uses kun-yomi (よ) and, as we’ve seen before, 7 can use either (しち or なな). With 9, く and きゅう are both seen.

Number	Kanji	Reading
1	一人	ひとり
2	二人	ふたり
3	三人	さんにん
4	四人	よにん
5	五人	ごにん
6	六人	ろくにん
7	七人	しちにん / ななにん
8	八人	はちにん
9	九人	くにん / きゅうにん
10	十人	じゅうにん

As we can see, the counting system can be variable depending on the counter being used. Although it can seem like a lot of information, just remembering that there are many common exceptions (often with 1 and 2, or 4, 7, and 9) is a good place to start.

I Can Count On You

As mentioned when we previously learned about adverbs, counters can be used like nouns or like adverbs. In both cases, they act as we'd expect grammatically. As an adverb, they are used on their own before a verb phrase. As a noun, they are most often used in conjunction with case-marking particles (like を or が).