Japanese grammar
What does ～きる mean? Japanese grammar N4
～きる means to do ~ completely, to finish ~ing.
| Level (estimated, JLPT framework) | N4 |
|---|---|
| Structure | V(ます形) + きる |
| Romaji | ~ kiru |
| Meaning | to do ~ completely, to finish ~ing |
Forming it
| Formula | V (drop ます) + きる — 食べます → 食べきる・使います → 使いきる |
|---|---|
| Conjugation | きる is a group 1 verb: きります・きった・きれる (potential) |
| Negative potential | V (masu form) + きれない — cannot finish ~ entirely |
How to use it
Emphasizing that an action is performed COMPLETELY to the end, with nothing left over.
- きる attaches after V (masu form) meaning "do it COMPLETELY, to the very end": 「食べきる」(eat it all up), 「使いきる」(use it all up), 「読みきる」(read the whole thing through).
- Difference from ～終わる (finish doing): 終わる simply says the action has ended, while きる emphasizes that NOTHING IS LEFT OVER. 「本を読み終わりました」= finished reading the book (neutral) ↔ 「本を読みきりました」= read the entire book completely (emphasizing effort/volume).
- The negative potential form ～きれない (cannot ~ entirely) is actually used even more often than the affirmative: 「多すぎて食べきれません」(too much to finish eating). This is an extremely common sentence at the dinner table.
- きる is also used for the meaning "completely ~" with a state: 「疲れきっています」(completely worn out, utterly exhausted).
Examples
料理が多すぎて、食べきれませんでした。
There was too much food, so I could not finish it.
この長い本を一日で読みきりました。
I read through this long book in one day.
お金を全部使いきってしまいました。
I ended up using up all my money.
Keep in mind
- きる fits verbs with a measurable "quantity" (eat, drink, use, read, run) — not used with instantaneous state verbs.
- The word 切る (to cut) is the origin of this pattern, but as a suffix it can be written in either kana or kanji.
Common mistakes
-
Wrong料理が多すぎて、食べきりませんでした。
There was too much food, so I couldn't finish it.
Correct料理が多すぎて、食べきれませんでした。
The meaning "could NOT finish eating" is about ABILITY → use the negative potential form きれない, not きらない.
-
Wrong食べるきりました。
I finished eating it all.
Correct食べきりました。
きる attaches after the masu stem (with ます dropped), not after the dictionary form.
Exam tips
- The form ～きれない appears more often than ～きる in the N4 exam — remember well that it's the negative potential form.