adverbial N2 uncommon politewritten
〜限り / 〜を限りに — only / as of
〜限り / 〜を限りに ・ かぎり
Meaning
- only / just this ~ / as of ~ — limits something to a single occasion or sets it as the final cut-off point
A different 限り from the 'as long as / as far as' conditional. Here 限り means a fixed *limit*. Attached straight to a noun it means 'only / just this one ~': 今回限り ('just this once'), 一日限り ('one day only'). With を — 〜を限りに — it marks a thing as the cut-off point, 'as of ~ / ending with ~': 今日を限りに ('as of today, no more'). The idiom 声を限りに ('at the top of one's voice') uses the same 'to the very limit' image.
Key sentence
このセールは本日限りです。
This sale is for today only.
Formation
| Attaches to | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun + 限り (only); Noun + を限りに (as of / ending with) | N + 限り / N + を限りに | 今回限り / 今日を限りに |
When: Announcements, notices, and set declarations of an end point — formal-leaning.
Examples
今回限り、特別に許可します。
Just this once, I'll give special permission.
彼は今年を限りに、現役を引退した。
He retired from active play as of the end of this year.
子どもたちは声を限りに叫んだ。
The children shouted at the top of their lungs.
Easily confused with
〜限り(は) — as long as / as far as The conditional 限り bounds a *statement* ('as long as I'm healthy …'); this 限り bounds an *occasion or quantity* to a single instance ('only this once', 'as of today'). 〜だけ だけ is the everyday 'only'; 〜限り is the set, formal 'limited to this one time / as of this point' you see on notices and in declarations of an end. 〜きり きり also marks 'only / and that was the last' (二人きり, 寝たきり); 〜を限りに specifically sets a thing as the *final cut-off point* rather than an exclusive amount.
Notes
- Don't confuse 〜を限りに ('as of ~, ending') with に限って ('of all ~') or に限る ('nothing beats ~') — same 限 root, different frames.
See 〜限り / 〜を限りに in real sentences
Jengo shows 〜限り / 〜を限りに the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.
Study it in JengoSources Compiled with reference to A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar.