부터: From a Starting Point in Time

부터 marks the point where something starts.

Most often that point is a time, and most often it arrives with its partner 까지.

The pair

9시부터 6시까지 일해요. — I work from 9 to 6.
월요일부터 금요일까지 — Monday to Friday.
3시부터 시작해요. — It starts at 3.

부터 = from. 까지 = until, as far as. Either can appear alone, but together they define a span.

The mistake to avoid

Korean splits “from” by what kind of thing you are starting from.

9시부터 6시까지     ✅  from 9 to 6
집에서 학교까지      ✅  from home to school
한국부터 왔어요      ✗
한국에서 왔어요      ✅  I came from Korea

한국부터 왔어요 is not meaningless — it would suggest Korea was the first of several places, in a sequence. Which is why it sounds odd rather than simply wrong.

For extra emphasis after a place, 에서부터 is normal in speech: 집에서부터 걸어왔어요 — I walked all the way from home.

When the noun is a source or origin rather than a clock start — especially in careful writing — Korean often uses (으)로부터 instead of bare 부터.

Starting with, not starting at

부터 also means starting with in a sequence, where no clock is involved:

• 너부터 시작하자. — Let’s start with you.
• 처음부터 다시. — From the beginning, again.
• 작은 것부터. — Starting with the small things.

That last shape is common in advice and self-help: 작은 것부터 시작하세요.

It replaces some particles, not others

Same behaviour as 도 and 만:

Replaced — 은/는, 이/가, 을/를 drop out.

내일 → 내일부터
이것 → 이것부터

Kept — particles that carry meaning survive, and 부터 attaches after them.

집에서 → 집에서부터
친구한테 → 친구한테부터

The rule is the one you already know: role-marking particles are absorbed, meaning-carrying ones are not.

Useful fixed phrases

언제부터요? is worth having ready. Asked with a rising tone, it covers everything from “how long has this been going on?” to genuine surprise.