まで

まで marks the endpoint of a range — the place a motion reaches, or the time at which a state stops. It pairs naturally with から: 九時から五時まで — "from nine to five."

まで should not be confused with までに ("by [time]"). まで means "continuously up until the endpoint" — 五時まで働く is "work until five" (working the whole time). までに means "at some point before the deadline" — 五時までに帰る is "go home by five" (the going-home is a single event before the deadline). The difference between continuous-up-to vs deadline-before is the most common まで pitfall.

まで also attaches to verbs in plain form: 終わるまで待つ — "wait until [it] finishes." Same continuous-up-to meaning.