modality N3 common casualpolitewritten
〜に限る — nothing beats ~
〜に限る ・ にかぎる
Meaning
- nothing beats ~ / ~ is best / the best thing is to ~ — the speaker's emphatic recommendation
Key sentence
夏はビールに限る。
In summer, nothing beats a beer.
Formation
| Attaches to | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun / Vる / Vない + に限る | N ／ Vる ／ Vない + に限る | 疲れた時は寝るに限る (when you're tired, nothing beats sleeping) |
Examples
風邪の時は、温かくして寝るに限る。
When you have a cold, the best thing is to bundle up and sleep.
夏休みは海に限る。
For summer vacation, nothing beats the sea.
When you can't use it
- This is the speaker's subjective verdict ('the best is…'). Don't confuse it with the literal 限る ('to limit'), or with 〜に限らず ('not limited to') and 〜に限って ('of all ~'), which are separate patterns on the same verb.
Easily confused with
Notes
- 〜に限らず ('not limited to / not only') and 〜に限って ('of all ~ / precisely when it's ~') are different constructions built on the same verb — keep them apart from this 'nothing beats' sense.
See 〜に限る in real sentences
Jengo shows 〜に限る 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.