The Chinese phrase "迄今为止" (qìjīn wéizhǐ), meaning "so far" or "up to now", is formed through a logical combination of its constituent parts: "迄" means "up to" or "until", "今" means "the present" or "now", and "为止" means "until" or "as a stopping point". Therefore, the compound literally translates to "up to the present as a limit", constructing an adverbial phrase that marks the temporal boundary of a situation or action extending from some point in the past right up to the current moment.