きる and ぬく

Table of Contents

This page explains expressions involving きる (to finish) and ぬく (to do through to the end).

～きる

To Finish doing, To do completely
Verb ます stem + きる

切る (きる) may attach to a verbs ます stem to mean “To completely finish“.
きる here doesn’t mean “cut” but “Finish”. You can think of as a cut string of events if it helps.

Examples

ポイントを使い切った – I used up (all of) the points
薬を飲みきる – Drink all of your medicine (Probably over several days).
食べきる – To eat every last bit. (Finish eating it all)

～きれない

Be unable to finish
Verb ます stem + きれない

You’ll probably not be shocked to learn that by using the negative potential form, you change the meaning to “Be unable to finish“. This is actually more useful and common than ~きる

Examples

たべきれない – To be unable to eat all of it.
飲み切れない – To be unable to drink everything.
やりきれない – To be unable to finish doing (something)

ぬく

To do through
ます stem + ぬく

抜く(ぬく) when attached to a ます stem means “To do through“.
This can mean “to see something through to the end“, or “to see through something.”
This pattern implies difficulty.

Examples

最後までやり抜く – Do it through to the end.
彼の嘘を見抜く – See through his lies.
守り抜いて見せる – I’ll definitely protect you through to the end.
朝まで頑張りぬいたおかげで、なんとか間に合った
Because you tried hard until the end (morning) we somehow managed to make it in time.

Expressions

Some verbs become expressions when used with きる:

言い切れない – Can’t finish saying → Can’t say its one thing for sure.
見切る – To finish looking → to give up on
張り切る – To stretch to the breaking point →To be really eager.