Particles から, まで, より, ね, よ

Learning Goals in This Unit

In this unit, you will learn から and まで, which mark the start and end of a time or place. You will also see where より, which marks the standard of comparison, is used. Finally, you will review か, ね, and よ, which are added to the end of a sentence to express a question, seeking agreement, or giving information.

から and まで — Range of Time and Place

から and まで are particles that follow a noun to express a range. から marks the starting point and まで marks the end point, so the two are often used together in the pattern 「A から B まで」 to mean "from A until B." They can be used for both time and place.

The starting point comes first, and the end point comes after it. 「九時(くじ)から 三時(さんじ)まで」 is the correct order. If only one of the two particles is used, the range is not complete. For example, 「九時(くじ)から です」 is a sentence that does not say when it ends.

When stating a time, 時(じ) is attached after a noun. 九時(くじ) means 9 o'clock, and 三時(さんじ) means 3 o'clock. The word for asking about a time is 何時(なんじ). 「何時(なんじ)から 何時(なんじ)までですか」 is a sentence that asks for both the start time and the end time. The same principle applies to places. 「駅(えき)から 学校(がっこう)まで」 indicates the place of departure and the place of arrival.

より — Standard of Comparison

より is a particle that follows the item used as the standard in a comparison. 「Aより」 means "more than A," and it indicates that A is taken as the standard when two things are compared. The predicate of a comparative sentence is an い-adjective or a な-adjective. Complete sentences in the form 「AはBより ～です」 are covered in Units 26 and 34. In this unit, you only need to learn that より follows a noun to show the standard of comparison. より has a different meaning from から, which shows a starting point, so the two must be distinguished.

か, ね, and よ at the End of a Sentence

か, ね, and よ, which are placed at the end of a sentence, express the speaker's attitude. All three are used after です.