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Is there a general meaning for 切る on the end of verbs?

I think it might have to do with "completely doing" something. If that's the case, how does ～切る on the end of verbs differ from ～てしまう, for example how do 成り切った and なってしまった "turned completely into" differ in meaning?

Additionally:

  • How does the meaning of 支え切れなくなる differ from 支えられなくなる "become unable to support"? Can 支え切れなくなる mean "will go past the point of being able to support"?

  • How does 疲れ切った differ from 疲れた "exhausted"?
    Does 完全に疲れた "completely exhausted" have a similar meaning to 疲れ切った?

  • What is the relationship between 割り切る and 割る?

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2 Answers

up vote 4 down vote

  1. Yes. The meaning of きる common to those examples is to complete doing ....

  2. てしまう does not necessarily mean complete doing .... So they are different.

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しまう is explained in the dictionary as "to finish; to close; to do something completely". Is there another meaning that is not about "finish" ? – Flaw Mar 13 '12 at 12:14
I suppose it's due to "complete" having two meanings. "to the full extent of" and "finish doing". "completely exhausted" = "to the full extent of being exhausted" ≠ "to finish being exhausted". – Flaw Mar 13 '12 at 12:52
@Flaw It depends on the aspectuality of the predicate. For example, 怖いものを見てしまった does not mean "complete seeing", "seeing" in this in example is done in an instance. – sawa Mar 13 '12 at 13:35
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@Flaw Don't learn grammar from EDICT. – Hyperworm Mar 13 '12 at 15:02
up vote 2 down vote

Well, ～しまう kinda means that you ended up doing something, or that something happened that you don't feel so great about. I often use it at work to say something like そうすると、難しくなってしまう which gives the nuance that it's regrettable, but it will ended up being hard if you do it like that.

～きる means do something thoroughly. A common example is 本当にそう言い切れるのか？ Can you REALLY say that (and mean it/be sure about it)? Another one would be 使い切る which means use something until it's gone/used up.

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