きり

きり

Only
Noun/Counter + きり

きり is the ます stem of きる, to end.
It is a suffixing noun that is used to express “Just/Only some small number”. 
Its basically identical to だけ in this meaning, but has a sense of exclusiveness to it. 
Examples include: “just that one time” or “Just the two of us”.

Examples

  • 許すのは今回きり
    I’ll forgive you just this once.

  • 二人きりに出掛けよう
    Let’s go out with just the two of us.

  • チャンスは1度きり
    You just have one chance.

  • それきり、会っていない
    Since then, I’ve not seen them.*

  • 一度きりチャンスだ
    A chance you get just once.

*それきり is an expression using きり, and is not interchangeable with だけ
それきり means “Not done since then”. (see below). 

たきり

Not since then
Simple Past Tense Verb + きり

きり may be used with a plain past tense verb to indicate the last time an action was done.
The final verb tends to be present progressive or past tense. 

Examples

  • 2-3年前に行ったきり、行っていない
    I went 2 or 3 years ago and haven’t been since.

  • 卒業の祝いで会ったきり、顔を見ていない
    Haven’t seen them since the graduation party.

  • あのアニメは一度見たきりで、名前を忘れた
    I saw that anime only once and forgot its name. 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *