までに
- 1By a specified time or date; marks the latest point by which an action must happen.Ex. 1
- 2By the time a certain event happens; the action must take place before that event occurs.Ex. 2
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Neutral in register, までに appears in everyday speech, instructions, schedules and school or workplace requests, often with 〜てください or 〜なければならない. It marks the latest point by which something happens: an action is finished, an action is started (5時までに勉強を始めてください), or a change takes place. まで, by contrast, marks the end point up to which an action or state continues.
Learners often use まで instead of までに for deadlines, which wrongly suggests the action continues until that time.
Do not use までに when an action simply continues up to a time; say 5時まで待つ, though 5時までに30分待つ works if the waiting is completed.
Note that the verb before までに is in the dictionary form, not the た-form.
- までN5「まで」 is close to 「までに」 only in the sense of a time endpoint: 「まで」 takes an action that continues up to that moment, as in 「3時まで待つ」, while 「までに」 means something is completed no later than that point, as in 「3時までに来る」. The two cannot be swapped.
- 前にN5「前に」 only expresses order of events and does not stress a deadline; with nouns it usually takes 「の」 (「会議の前に」), and it can also follow a time quantity to mean 'ago' (「三年前に」). When meaning 'do something before an event,' the two are often interchangeable.
- 間にN4「間に」 sets a period of time during which something happens or is completed, whereas 「までに」 only sets a deadline by which something must happen or be done, as in 「朝までに雨がやんだ」. The former focuses on a span, the latter on a deadline.
- うちにN3「までに」 marks a clear cutoff point, while 「うちに」 means doing something while a state still holds; the preceding item is a state that will change, with no exact deadline. 「うちに」 also has the sense of something changing without your noticing during a process, so the two are generally not interchangeable.
- 〜ないうちにN3「までに」 stresses a latest deadline and attaches to nouns or the dictionary form of verbs; 「〜ないうちに」 attaches to the ない form and is similar when meaning 'before something happens,' focusing on acting before an unwanted change occurs. It also has a usage meaning something has changed before you noticed.
Unlike まで (an ongoing action or state lasting until a point), までに sets a deadline by which something must happen, and unlike 前に, which simply means 'before,' it implies a limit that must be met. 間に and うちに focus on something happening within a period or while a state lasts, and 〜ないうちに means 'before something (often unwanted) happens,' rather than marking a fixed deadline.
