Actions

87 phrases

Attempt & tendency29 These lines all lean on ～がち — the suffix for what you slip into by default, usually something you'd rather not. Note it attaches to the ます-stem: 忘れる→「約束を忘れがち」, なる→「運動不足になりがち」, 考える→「否定的に考えがち」. N2 learners overuse it for one-off events; がち is about a standing tendency. It even bends to weather in 「曇りがちの空」, meaning a sky that keeps clouding over.
Completion29 Not all "finishing" is the same here. ～きる marks running the meter to zero — 「マラソンを最後まで走りきった」, 「予算を使いきってしまい」 — completion by exhaustion. ～ぬく adds gritted teeth: 「苦しい練習に耐えぬいて」, 「最後まで考えぬいて」 mean you pushed through hardship to the very end. Pick ぬく when the point is perseverance, not just that the task is done.
Continuation & repetition29 Two ways to "keep going," opposite in tone. ～続ける is deliberate continuation: 「日記をつけ続けている」, 「努力し続ければ」 — you chose to persist. ～っぱなし is the neglectful kind — leaving something in a state you should have stopped: 「電気をつけっぱなしで出かけて」, 「水を出しっぱなしにするのはもったいない」. It usually carries a whiff of blame or waste, so don't swap it in for praise.

Free · No sign-up · Infinite repeat