modality N1 uncommon casualwritten
〜切りがない — there's no end to ~
〜切りがない ・ きりがない
Meaning
- there's no end to ~ / it's endless — no matter how much one does it, it never finishes, so one must draw a line somewhere
Key sentence
欲しい物を挙げていたら切りがない。
If I started listing the things I want, there'd be no end to it.
Formation
| Attaches to | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb (ると／ば／ても) | V-ると／V-ば + 切りがない |
Examples
細かい点を直し始めると切りがない。
Once you start fixing the small details, it never ends.
上を見たら切りがないから、この辺で満足しよう。
There's no end to wanting more, so let's be content around here.
Notes
- Often written キリがない in casual text. Unlike the emotional たまらない ('unbearable'), 切りがない states that an activity simply has no natural stopping point.
See 〜切りがない in real sentences
Jengo shows 〜切りがない the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.
Study it in JengoSources Compiled from published Japanese grammar references.