Order of compound particles


I came across the following sentence:

> 彼氏と大喧嘩して、お前とはもう別れたい _とまで_ 言われた。

Why are と and まで in that order? Would "別れたい _までと_ 言われた" be incorrect? Is there
a rule concerning the order in which particles must be assembled?




Yes, the order matters. Since things before the と will be treated as a part of
the quote, お前とはもう別れたいまでと言われた sounds like he actually said "別れたいまで", which
makes no sense in this context. It's somewhat like "He even said that ～" vs
"He said that even ～". In general, when two particles are combined, the order
is almost always important (e.g., you can say 学校では but not 学校はで).




Yes, the order matters. Since things before the と will be treated as a part of
the quote, お前とはもう別れたいまでと言われた sounds like he actually said "別れたいまで", which
makes no sense in this context. It's somewhat like "He even said that ～" vs
"He said that even ～". In general, when two particles are combined, the order
is almost always important (e.g., you can say 学校では but not 学校はで).

