〜抜く (~nuku) — do ~ through to the end / thoroughly

Hard as it was, you did not give up and saw it through — stronger than 「通す」or 「切る」.

Formula (सूत्र ढाँचा)

Verb Vます [ます] + 抜く

Verb Vます [ます] + 抜いて／抜いた

Grammar rule (व्याकरण नियम र परिभाषा)

When to use it

Your first year in Japan, the job is tough, you miss home — you tell a friend 「どんなに大変でも、三年間この仕事をやり抜くつもりだ」(however hard it gets, I mean to see this job through for three years).

Meaning

① 'To the end' — it was hard in the middle, you wanted to quit, and you gritted your teeth and carried it through anyway.
② 「考え抜く」「悩み抜く」「困り抜く」= thoroughly, to the limit — thinking day and night, worrying yourself sick.
The core idea of 「抜く」: 'that state was kept up to the very end'.

How to attach

Drop 「ます」from the ます-form and add 「抜く」(やり抜く・生き抜く・耐え抜く・守り抜く・戦い抜く)

Versus what you know

N3You learned 「〜通す」(走り通す = keep doing from start to finish without stopping) and 「〜切る」(使い切る・食べ切る = finish completely).
In the sentence above 「やり通す」has no sense of struggle and 「やり切る」only says 'get it done' — 「やり抜く」says 'without giving up'.

Watch out

It goes only with verbs that involve struggle or effort — やる・生きる・がんばる・戦う・耐える・守る・考える・悩む・困る・苦しむ.
Not for using things up: 「インクを使い抜く」✗ → 「使い切る」○.
It belongs to serious, determined, emotional matters; nobody says it about ordinary chores (お皿を洗い抜く).

Examples (उदाहरणहरू)

どんなに大変でも、三年間この仕事をやり抜くつもりだ。

どんなにたいへんでも、さんねんかんこのしごとをやりぬくつもりだ。

However hard it gets, I intend to see this job through for three years.

How it is built (कसरी बन्यो) やります = I do → take off 「ます」: やり → we attach 「抜く」 = to keep going to the end even when it's hard → 「つもりだ」 after it shows a firm intention.

帰国するか残るか、一か月考え抜いて決めた。

きこくするかのこるか、いちかげつかんがえぬいてきめた。

Go home or stay — I thought it through for a whole month and decided.

How it is built (कसरी बन्यो) 考えます = I think → take off 「ます」: 考え → 「抜いて」 (て-form) = the second meaning, thinking it through completely → 決めた (I decided).

祖父は戦争の時代を生き抜いた人だ。

そふはせんそうのじだいをいきぬいたひとだ。

My grandfather is someone who lived through the war years.

How it is built (कसरी बन्यो) 生きます = I live → take off 「ます」: 生き → 「抜いた」 (た-form) = to live all the way through a hard time → 人 (that kind of person).

Knowledge check (मिनी ज्ञान जाँच)

Question: 1/3

「最後まで＿抜くつもりです。」— fill the blank.

💡 Hint: Which verb form goes before 抜く?