Takashi's Japanese Dictionary

A blog for learning Japanese that introduces Japanese slang words and Idioms!

  • Home
  • Dictionary Tools ▾
    • Furigana and Definition Lookup
    • Japanese Synonym Finder
    • Katakana Word Converter
  • Blog Posts ▾
    • Latest Posts
    • Phrases by Topic
    • Slang
    • Idiom
    • Column
    • Grammar
  • Lesson Slides ▾
    • For Complete Beginners
    • For Intermediate/Advanced Learners
  • Vocab List
  • What’s New
  • Social Media
  • About
  • 英語学習サイト
You are here: Home / Standard / Differences Between 切る (kiru) and 尽くす (tsukusu) as Suffix

Differences Between 切る (kiru) and 尽くす (tsukusu) as Suffix

October 21, 2022

Meaning of 切る

切る (kiru) generally means “to cut”, as in 野菜やさいを切る means “cut vegetables”. It also means “turn/switch off (an electronic device)”, as in “携帯電話けいたいでんわの電源でんげんを切る” means “switch off a mobile phone”.

Meaning of 尽くす

尽くす (tsukus) means “to devote oneself” as in 彼女に尽くす means “devote oneself to one’s girlfriend”. It also means “to dedicate (everything)”, as in 全力を尽くす means “dedicate all power/energy one has” and ベスト/最善さいぜんを尽くす means “do one’s best”.

Meaning of 切る and 尽くす as Suffix

Both 切る and 尽くす are used as suffix and combined with verbs (e.g. やり切る/やり尽くす) to add the sense of “completely”. However, there are some differences as follows:

  • 切る often emphasises the sense of “accomplish”
  • 尽くす puts more focus on the fact that things are exhausted/nothing is left.

For instance, if you’re stranded in the middle of a forest and end up eating all food you have, you’d say 食べ尽くしてしまった, whereas if you finish eating 5kg steak in competitive eating, 食べ切った is more natural. Similarly,  やり切った is often used when you have done something with all you have and don’t have any regret (regardless of the outcome), whereas やり尽くした often suggests you’ve tried all means and there is nothing left you can do.

That said, this rule doesn’t always hold true because it’s language. For instance, some verbs are used only with either of them, e.g. 楽しみ尽くす (“to fully enjoy”) and {信しんじ/使つかい/飲のみ}切る (“to completely believe/use/drink”) are much more common than 楽しみ切る and {信じ/使い/飲み}尽くす. Regarding 使う and 飲む, they are actually used with other suffixes: “使い果はたす” and “飲み干ほす”, both of which emphasise the “things are exhausted” sense like 尽くす.

Filed Under: Standard

Related Posts

  • とにかく (Tonikaku) Means MORE Than “Anyway”

    とにかく (Tonikaku) Means MORE Than “Anyway”

  • イチャモン (ichamon) Meaning ‘Unreasonable Complaints’ in Japanese

  • でかした (dekashita) Meaning “Well Done” in a Playful Tone

  • 音痴 (onchi) Meaning “Bad at Singing” in Japanese

  • 役不足 (yaku busoku) Meaning Over- or Under-Qualified?

Featured Posts:

  • Japanese Conversation Practice to Master 気-related Idioms
  • “Gakkī Loss”: Meaning of ロス (“Loss”) in Japanese
  • 30+ Japanese Words for “Very”: Synonyms of とても (totemo)
  • 40 Ways of Saying "Many" in Japanese (Ooi, Ippai, Takusan, and More...)
  • 8 Funny and Cute Japanese Cat Idioms
  • Success Story of Ichiro Suzuki: What He Means to Japanese Baseball Fans

Popular Posts:

  • “The moon is beautiful, isn’t it?” Could Mean “I love You” in Japanese
  • Meaning of 卍 (manji) and マジ卍 (Maji manji) in Japanese
  • Funny Japanese Gaming Slang Terms
  • Japanese Slang 賢者タイム (Kenja Time): Meaning & Example Sentences
  • Boku, Ore, Watashi, Atashi: 15 Japanese Person Pronouns
  • Meaning of ぼっち (Bocchi) and クリぼっち (Kuri Bocchi) in Japanese Slang
  • 4 Meanings of ノリ (Nori) in Japanese Slang
  • Meaning and Difference of ガチ (gachi) and マジ (maji) in Japanese
  • 5 Meanings of ペラペラ (pera pera) in Japanese
  • 凸, 凹, 〆, 卍: Meaning of Weird and Funny Japanese Kanji
  • 40 Japanese Words Meaning “Many/Much” (Ooi, Ippai, Takusan, …)
  • なんでやねん (nandeyanen): Meaning and Usage
  • あけおめ (Akeome): Casual Japanese New Year’s Greeting
  • List of Similar and Confusing Kanji With Different Meanings
  • 40 Old Japanese Slang Words to Sound Funny (or Weird)
  • 闇鍋 (yaminabe): Meaning “Dark Hot Pot” with Random Ingredients
  • とにかく (Tonikaku) Means MORE Than “Anyway”
  • Japanese Key Words and Phrases to Talk About Love
  • 9 Essential Kansai Dialect (Kansai-ben) Words and Phrases
  • Japanese Slang 帰宅部 (kitaku bu) Meaning ‘Go-Home Club’
  • Meaning of Kaedama, Menkata and Barikata of Ramen Noodles
  • Meaning of “Paper Driver” in Japlish (Japanese English)
  • Essential Grammar in Kansai Dialect (関西弁, Kansai ben)
  • Japanese Wasei-Eigo List (“Japlish”) and Their Meanings
  • Japanese and English Words that Rhyme in Both Languages
  • 30+ Japanese Words for “Very” and Their Nuances
  • Meaning of あかん (akan), the Essential Kansai-Dialect Word
  • 5 Meanings of 気 (ki) and 30 気-related Japanese Phrases
  • Meaning of 相合傘 (ai ai gasa): Lovely Dream of Japanese Kids
  • Meaning of “Three-Day Monk” (三日坊主, mikka bouzu) in Japanese

Search on Takashionary
(e.g. 'food', 'cat', 'idiom')

Comments

  1. David says

    November 10, 2022 at 6:23 am

    Thank you for your continuous work on helping us learn Japanese 🙂

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

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

ブログランキング・にほんブログ村へPVアクセスランキング にほんブログ村

Search on Takashionary
(e.g. 'food', 'cat', 'idiom')

Trending Posts

  • “The moon is beautiful, isn’t it?” Could Mean “I love You” in Japanese
  • Meaning and Difference of ガチ (gachi) and マジ (maji) in Japanese
  • 闇鍋 (yaminabe): Meaning “Dark Hot Pot” with Random Ingredients
  • “Gakkī Loss”: Meaning of ロス (“Loss”) in Japanese
  • Meaning of 卍 (manji) and マジ卍 (Maji manji) in Japanese
  • Japanese Slang 賢者タイム (Kenja Time): Meaning & Example Sentences
  • Boku, Ore, Watashi, Atashi: 15 Japanese Person Pronouns
  • Funny Japanese Gaming Slang Terms
  • 20 Japanese Twitter Slang Words in 2010s/2020s
  • List of Similar and Confusing Kanji With Different Meanings
  • Japanese Slang 帰宅部 (kitaku bu) Meaning ‘Go-Home Club’
  • 40 Japanese Words Meaning “Many/Much” (Ooi, Ippai, Takusan, …)
  • Real and Unknown Meanings of “Hentai” in Japanese
  • Meaning of “Paper Driver” in Japlish (Japanese English)
  • 凸, 凹, 〆, 卍: Meaning of Weird and Funny Japanese Kanji
  • 20 “Untranslatable” Japanese Phrases with Specific Meanings
  • 4 Meanings of ノリ (Nori) in Japanese Slang
  • Meaning of Kaedama, Menkata and Barikata of Ramen Noodles
  • Meaning of ぼっち (Bocchi) and クリぼっち (Kuri Bocchi) in Japanese Slang
  • Japanese Kanji Words with Multiple Meanings and Readings
  • Essential Grammar in Kansai Dialect (関西弁, Kansai ben)
  • 7 Unique Variants of よろしく (Yoroshiku) in Japanese
  • 30+ Japanese Words for “Very” and Their Nuances
  • 9 Essential Kansai Dialect (Kansai-ben) Words and Phrases
  • 5 Meanings of 気 (ki) and 30 気-related Japanese Phrases
  • なんでやねん (nandeyanen): Meaning and Usage
  • とにかく (Tonikaku) Means MORE Than “Anyway”
  • Meaning of あかん (akan), the Essential Kansai-Dialect Word
  • How The Japanese Word 神 (Kami, ‘God’) Is Used Metaphorically
  • Japanese and English Words that Rhyme in Both Languages

Popular Posts

  • “The moon is beautiful, isn’t it?” Could Mean “I love You” in Japanese
  • Meaning of Kaedama, Menkata and Barikata of Ramen Noodles
  • Boku, Ore, Watashi, Atashi: 15 Japanese Person Pronouns
  • 9 Essential Kansai Dialect (Kansai-ben) Words and Phrases
  • 40 Old Japanese Slang Words to Sound Funny (or Weird)
  • Japanese Slang 賢者タイム (Kenja Time): Meaning & Example Sentences
  • 4 Meanings of ノリ (Nori) in Japanese Slang
  • Meaning and Difference of ガチ (gachi) and マジ (maji) in Japanese
  • 30+ Essential Japanese Words to Describe Food
  • Meaning of 卍 (manji) and マジ卍 (Maji manji) in Japanese

Words by Theme

  • Boku, Ore, Watashi, Atashi: 15 Japanese Person Pronouns
  • 9 Essential Kansai Dialect (Kansai-ben) Words and Phrases
  • 40 Old Japanese Slang Words to Sound Funny (or Weird)

Idiom

  • 十八番 (ohako) Meaning “The Song You Sing Best”
  • How The Japanese Word 神 (Kami, ‘God’) Is Used Metaphorically
  • Japanese Money-Related Idioms and Slang Words

Japlish

  • Japanese Wasei-Eigo List (“Japlish”) and Their Meanings
  • 深夜テンション (shinya tension) Meaning “Midnight High” in Japanese Slang
  • Meaning of “Paper Driver” in Japlish (Japanese English)

Slang

  • 女たらし (onna tarashi) Meaning ‘Lady’s Man’ in Japanese
  • Toka, Kana, Kamo: Japanese Vague Expressions
  • Japanese “活 Words”: 婚活 (Konkatsu), 就活/終活 (Shūkatsu)

Column

  • “The moon is beautiful, isn’t it?” Could Mean “I love You” in Japanese
  • イチロー (Ichiro): What He Means to Japanese Baseball Fans
  • Meaning of 遠慮 (enryo) and 空気を読む (kuuki wo yomu)

Grammar

  • Essential Grammar in Kansai Dialect (関西弁, Kansai ben)
  • Slang Meaning of 全然 (Zenzen) Without ない (Nai)
  • Ageru, Kureru, and Morau: Meaning, Grammar and Difference

日本語記事

  • お茶を濁す、その場しのぎ、その場をやり過ごすを英語で
  • 深夜テンションとハイテンションを英語で説明
  • 「遠慮のかたまり」と「遠慮する」を英語で説明
  • 「背水の陣」のように決死の覚悟で挑む状況を英語で
  • 使えると便利な英語の略語スラング一覧

Categories

Copyright © 2023 · All Rights Reserved