込む② こむ② - Grammar Discussion

Grammar Points
#1

remain
to do thoroughly
deeply
intensely

Structure

  • Verb[stem] + 込む

[Used in a great number of compound words to express: “that some state continues as it is” or “doing/becoming something deeply, thoroughly, intensely, or repeatedly”]

[Doing something profoundly, deeply, thoroughly, often hints at doing something repeatedly to master/complete]

[:warning: There are also compound words with 込む that do not belong to any of the mentioned categories. Some words can also express more than one of the mentioned meanings, including those from the first 込む]

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#2

Is there a difference between using this and using adverbs like ちゃんと or しっかり with the plain verbs?

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#3

@Johnathan-Weir

込む has more meanings than ちゃんと, so in some cases, they can mean similar or the same things (with slightly different nuances, since ちゃんと and the like basically mean “in a way that is considered correct” and by extensions of that it can mean “completely/thoroughly”, while 込む in core means “getting into something/ being involved in something”, but sometimes only a hint of that original meaning can be seen in compound) while in some cases they might mean two completely different things.

So it depends on the sentence.

I hope it helps,
Cheers!

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#4

Is there any difference between this and きる? They both got translated into “… completely” but I can’t distinguish between which one to use just from the english sentence alone.

#5

@rextruong Thank you for your question. It is a bit confusing to define both 込む and 切る as “…completely.” While there are instances where they can replace one another, the nuances behind the two are a bit different.

It might be better to think of 込む as " thoroughly," “deeply,” or “intensely” and 切る as “completely (to the end,” “utterly,” or “resolutely.” As 込む’s kanji implies, you will often see it used when something “goes in(to)” something else (飛び込む - jump into, 覚え込む - to fix in memory, 教え込む - to drill (a teaching) into (someone’s head), etc.), while 切る has a “cut off” point (言い切る - say definitively (and not say any more), 使い切る - to use up (all), 疲れ切る - to be completely exhausted and have nothing left, etc.).

Just by looking at the examples above, one can deduce that 切る is more likely to be used in negative situations or when the outcome is not necessarily favorable, while 込む is usually used when the speaker is devoting themselves to something.

I hope this helps!

Cheers.

Edit: I have removed the “completely” definition from 込む and updated the hints/warning messages to make the differences between 込む and 切る a bit more clear.

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#6

@Pushindawood thank you for the answer. If you don’t mind, may I also ask about the difference between these two and ~あげる／~あがる?

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#7

Transitivity!

#8

Hope it’s okay to bump this topic.

What’s the difference between てしまう, 切る and 込む in this case ?

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#9

Hi!

They all indeed can be used for something that you do completely.

My first take on this, waiting for more knowledgeable people to chime in, would be as follows:

  • てしまう introduces the nuance of ‘not being able to come back’ or ‘point of no return’. This can be either desired or undesired (the main use of this construction);
    You can think of it as doing something and then you shut it down (and throw away the key or lose it) (しまう).

  • verb stem + 切る introduces the nuance of ‘doing something until you have exhausted the resources needed to do the action’, to the full extent of your resources or capabilities;
    You can think of it as doing something until you have to cut it out (切る).

  • verb stem + 込む introduces the nuance of ‘getting trapped into doing something until you can get away from it’;
    You can think of it as going into doing a thing and getting stuck with it (込む) until you have finished it.


In any case, take a look at the related grammar section for each point, where a good and short comparative explanation is provided for each couple of grammar points.

HTH!

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