〜たきり (~ta kiri) — nothing since ~ / only ~
「会ったきり連絡がない」— it happened once and nothing since.
Formula (सूत्र ढाँचा)
Grammar rule (व्याकरण नियम र परिभाषा)
When to use it
- Talking about a friend who went back to Nepal: 「去年会ったきり、連絡がない」(I saw him last year and there has been no contact since).
- There is a little regret in it — 'we should have met, we did not'.
Meaning
- ① 「Vた＋きり」followed by a negative — 'that happened once, and the thing you would expect since then has not happened'. This is the one tested most.
- ② 「Vます＋っきり」— 'doing nothing else, stuck to that': 「母は父につきっきりで看病している」(my mother is nursing my father, never leaving his side), 「赤ん坊の世話にかかりっきり」(tied up looking after the baby).
- ③ 「number＋きり」= 'only': 「二人きり」(just the two of us), 「一度きりの人生」(a life you live only once).
How to attach
- Vた + きり + …negative (会ったきり、連絡がない)
- In speech you hear 「っきり」(会ったっきり)
- 「それきり・それっきり」points back to the last event
- 「寝たきり」(bedridden) is a word built from this meaning.
Versus what you know
- N3You learned 「〜きり」together with 「まま・っぱなし」, meaning 'left as it was'; at N2 「きり」takes these new jobs.
- 「てから」only marks time; 「きり」says 'and after that, nothing'.
Watch out
In meaning ① what follows is never your own wish or a request ('I will / let's / do') — only the state 'it has not happened'.
Examples (उदाहरणहरू)
国の友達とは正月に電話したきり、連絡を取っていない。
くにのともだちとはしょうがつにでんわしたきり、れんらくをとっていない。
I called my friend back home over New Year's and haven't been in touch since.
How it is built (कसरी बन्यो) 電話した = I phoned (た-form) → we attach 「きり」: that was the last time → then 「取っていない」 = nothing since.
店長は新人につきっきりで、レジの使い方を教えている。
てんちょうはしんじんにつきっきりで、レジのつかいかたをおしえている。
The manager is staying right beside the new staff member, teaching them the register.
How it is built (कसरी बन्यो) つきます → drop 「ます」: つき → we attach 「っきり」 = without leaving their side → 「で」 → then what the manager is doing, fully focused on it.
日曜日は久しぶりに妻と二人きりで映画を見た。
にちようびはひさしぶりにつまとふたりきりでえいがをみた。
On Sunday, for the first time in ages, my wife and I watched a movie, just the two of us.
How it is built (कसरी बन्यो) 二人 = two people (a number) → we attach 「きり」 = only the two of us, nobody else → 「で」 → then what we did together.
Knowledge check (मिनी ज्ञान जाँच)
「彼とは卒業式で＿きり、一度も会っていない。」— fill the blank.
💡 Hint: Which form does the 'nothing since' きり attach to?
Vた + きり + negative. 会ったきり = met once, and (not) since.
Which sentence is unnatural?
💡 Hint: What cannot follow Vた + きり?
After Vた + きり comes the state 'it has not happened', never an intention like 「行こう」. Say 会ったきり、連絡がない.
What does 「赤ん坊の世話にかかりっきりだ」mean?
💡 Hint: Vます + っきり = doing nothing but that.
かかりっきり = tied up with it entirely; no time for anything else.
Your score: /3