From, To – N에서 N까지, N부터 N까지
In this lesson, you will learn how to say ‘from‘ and ‘to‘ in Korean when talking about a physical range or temporal range over which an event or an action takes place. To express ‘from’ and ‘to’ in Korean, the following structures are used:
- Noun + 에서 Noun + 까지 = when talking about a physical range
- Noun + 부터 Noun + 까지 = when talking about a temporal range
1. N에서 N까지
This structure is usually used when talking about from/to in relation to physical locations. Let’s look at some examples:
부산에서 서울까지 = from Busan to Seoul
집에서 식당까지 = from home to the restaurant
한국에서 영국까지 = from Korea to England
2. N부터 N까지
This structure is usually used when talking about from/to in relation to a range of time. Let’s look at some examples:
12시부터 1시까지 = from twelve to one
토요일부터 월요일까지 = from Saturday to Monday
2월부터 3월까지 = from February to March
There are no special conjugation rules with these particles. Simply, place 에서 / 부터 / 까지 after the nouns. This is different from English in which ‘from’ and ‘to’ come before the noun.
Example Sentences
Here are some useful example using ‘from’ and ‘to’ in Korean.
| English | Korean |
|---|---|
| Is it far from here to home? | 여기에서 집까지 멀어요? |
| This restaurant is open from 10 a.m until 10 p.m. | 이 식당은 오전 열시부터 오후 열시까지 엽니다. |
| I walked home from school. (Literally ‘From school to home I walked.’) | 학교에서 집까지 걸어왔어요. |
| Lunchtime is from 12 until 1. | 점심시간은 12시부터 1시까지입니다. |
| How do you get from here to Busan station? | 여기에서 부산역까지 어떻게 가요? |
| When is the school vacation? (Literally ‘From when to when is the school vacation?’) | 언제부터 언제까지 방학이에요? |