切れない【きれない】

The suffix 切れない (きれない) attaches to the masu-stem of a verb to express that one cannot completely finish or carry out an action – often because there is too much of something, or the task exceeds one's capacity. It conveys the idea of "cannot do all of ~" or "too much to ~."

Structure

V[masu-stem] + 切れない

• たべる食べる → 食べ → 食べ切れない (cannot eat it all)
• よむ読む → 読み → 読み切れない (cannot finish reading)
• かぞえる数える → 数え → 数え切れない (too many to count)
• つかう使う → 使い → 使い切れない (cannot use it all up)

Usage

切れない emphasizes that a quantity or degree is beyond one's ability to handle completely. It frequently appears with large quantities or overwhelming situations.

A common set phrase is かぞえ数えきれない切れないほど ("so many that one cannot count them"), which functions similarly to "countless" or "innumerable" in English.

Affirmative form: 切れる

The affirmative form 切れる means "to be able to completely finish ~."

Past and polite forms

Like any verb, 切れない conjugates normally:

• 切れなかった (past negative): couldn't finish ~
• 切れません (polite negative): cannot finish ~
• 切れませんでした (polite past negative): couldn't finish ~