Particle 까지 (endpoint)

Using 까지 is like putting a sticker on a box. You just take your noun and slap 까지 right onto the end of it. There is no space between the noun and the particle. Unlike some other Korean particles, 까지 does not care about batchim. It does not matter if the noun ends in a vowel or a consonant. The form stays exactly the same. This makes it a breath of fresh air for beginners. You do not have to do any mental gymnastics to get it right. Just attach it and you are good to go. It is like a grammar shortcut that actually works every time.

1. 1Pick a noun (time or place).
2. 2Attach 까지 directly to the noun.
3. 3Do not add any spaces.
4. 4Add your verb or the rest of the sentence.
5. 5서울 (Seoul) + 까지 = 서울까지 (To Seoul)
6. 63시 (3 o'clock) + 까지 = 3시까지 (Until 3 o'clock)
7. 7어제 (Yesterday) + 까지 = 어제까지 (Until yesterday)

Use 까지 when you want to talk about a destination. Imagine you are in a taxi. You tell the driver 강남역까지 가 주세요 (Please go to Gangnam Station). You are setting the endpoint of your trip.

Use it for time limits or deadlines. If your boss says 내일까지 하세요, they mean "Do it by tomorrow." The time 내일 is the wall you cannot cross.

Use it for the extent of an action. If you studied from morning until night, you would use 까지 for the night part. It shows the full range of your effort.

Real-world scenario: You are ordering delivery. The app says it will take 30 minutes. You tell your hungry friend, "It will arrive by 7:00 PM" (7시까지 와요). It sets the expectation perfectly.

Do not use 까지 for the starting point. That is a different job for 부터 or 에서. If you say 서울까지, you are arriving there, not leaving from there.

Do not use it when you just want to mark a location where something is happening. If you are eating at a restaurant, use 에서. 까지 implies movement or a time progression toward a limit.

Avoid using it as a subject marker. It cannot replace 이/가 or 은/는 in a basic "The cat is cute" sentence. It has a specific job: marking the end. Even grammar particles have job descriptions!

One big mistake is adding a space. 서울 까지 is wrong. It must be 서울까지.

Another mistake is mixing up 까지 and 에. While 에 can mean "to," it is more of a general direction. 까지 emphasizes the "endpoint" or the "limit." If you say 학교에 가요, you are just going to school. If you say 학교까지 가요, it sounds like you are emphasizing the distance or the final stop.

Sometimes people forget that 까지 can also mean "even" in more advanced contexts. But at the A1 level, stick to the "until/to" meaning. Trying to use all meanings at once is like trying to eat a whole watermelon in one bite. Take it slow!

Let's compare 까지 with 에.

• 학교에 가요: I go to school. (Simple destination)
• 학교까지 가요: I go as far as school. (Focuses on the end of the path)

Now look at 까지 vs 까지도.

• 10시까지: Until 10:00. (Simple time limit)
• 10시까지도: Even until 10:00. (Adds a feeling of surprise or emphasis)

Think of 까지 as the standard version. Most of the time, it is exactly what you need. It is the vanilla ice cream of particles—reliable and satisfying.