auxiliary N3 common casualpolitewritten
〜切る — to do ~ completely / all the way to the end
〜切る ・ きる
Builds on 連用形（ます形）
Meaning
- do ~ completely / finish ~ing / ~ all the way — carry an action through to its full extent, or do it utterly
Key sentence
フルマラソンを最後まで走り切った。
I ran the full marathon all the way to the finish.
Formation
| Attaches to | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb (ます-stem) | V(stem) + 切る | 使い切る / 食べ切る / 言い切る |
Examples
もらったお菓子を一日で食べ切った。
I finished off all the sweets I was given in a single day.
彼は「絶対に勝つ」と言い切った。
He declared flatly, 'We will definitely win.'
Easily confused with
〜切れない 切れない is the potential negative — 'can't finish ~ing' or 'too many/much to ~' (数え切れない = 'countless'). 切る is the positive 'carry it through to completion.' 〜かける Opposite ends of an action: 〜切る takes it all the way to completion; 〜かける means it was only begun and left unfinished (read みかけの本 = 'a book I started but didn't finish').
Notes
- Two flavors: completing a quantity (使い切る = 'use up entirely') and doing something utterly (疲れ切る = 'be completely exhausted,' 困り切る = 'be at a total loss').
See 〜切る in real sentences
Jengo shows 〜切る 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.