-tik ... -ra

From ... to

Level 3

Bilbotik Donostiara (from Bilbao to Donostia). Bederatzietatik bostetara (from nine to five). Bihartik aurrera (from tomorrow on). Bi orduz (for two hours).

How It Works

Start and end. Put the starting point in the ablative -tik and the end point in the allative -ra:

  • Places: Bilbotik Donostiara (from Bilbao to Donostia), etxetik eskolara (from home to school)
  • Days: astelehenetik ostiralera (from Monday to Friday)
  • Clock times: goizeko bederatzietatik arratsaldeko bostetara (from nine in the morning to five in the afternoon)

Clock times are plural. We say bederatziak dira (it is nine o'clock), so the endings are the plural ones: bederatzietatik, bostetara. Only one o'clock is singular: ordu batetik hiruretara (from one to three). See zer ordu da?.

Until. Instead of -ra, you can use arte after the plain form: goizeko bederatzietatik arratsaldeko bostak arte (from nine until five). To stress the end point, use -raino: Bilbotik Donostiaraino (all the way from Bilbao to Donostia); see -raino and -rantz.

From ... on. Add aurrera after -tik: bihartik aurrera (from tomorrow on), irailetik aurrera (from September on), hemendik aurrera (from now on).

For how long. After a number and a time word, the instrumental -z ending means for: bi orduz (for two hours), hiru egunez (for three days). The time word has no article, as usual after a number.

To ask about a span, use the question words: Noiztik noiz arte? (From when until when?) Nondik nora? (From where to where?)

Examples (6)

  1. Bilbotik Donostiara ordubete behar da.

    It takes an hour from Bilbao to Donostia.

    -tik marks where the trip starts and -ra where it ends.

  2. Goizeko bederatzietatik arratsaldeko bostetara lan egiten dut.

    I work from nine in the morning to five in the afternoon.

    Clock times are plural, so they take -etatik and -etara.

  3. Astelehenetik ostiralera eskolan nago.

    I'm at school from Monday to Friday.

  4. Etxetik eskolara oinez joaten naiz.

    I walk from home to school.

  5. Bihartik aurrera goizago jaikiko naiz.

    From tomorrow on, I will get up earlier.

    -tik aurrera means from ... on.

  6. Bi orduz itxaron dut.

    I waited for two hours.

    After a length of time, -z means for.

Common Mistakes

  • Using singular endings for clock times.

    Bederatzitik bostera lan egiten dut.
    Bederatzietatik bostetara lan egiten dut.

    Clock times are plural (bederatziak, bostak), so they take the plural endings -etatik and -etara. Only one o'clock is singular: ordu batetik.

  • Leaving out -tik before aurrera.

    Bihar aurrera goizago jaikiko naiz.
    Bihartik aurrera goizago jaikiko naiz.

    For from ... on, the starting point needs -tik: bihartik aurrera, gaurtik aurrera.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

-tik ... -raLevel 3From ... to

Learn This First

From ... to combines the two local cases.

Words in This Pattern

aurrera