Translation guide
The English phrase 'run out' has several distinct meanings. This guide covers the most common uses: exhausting a supply, having something expire, and physically running to the outside. It also includes less common meanings like flowing out and ejecting someone.
To use up or consume all of something so that none remains.
Intransitive verb meaning 'to run out' or 'to be used up'. Used when the subject is the thing that runs out.
Intransitive verb meaning 'to be gone' or 'to run out'. More general than 切れる, used for supplies, abstract things, etc.
I ran out of money.
I ran out of ideas.
Transitive verb meaning 'to use up completely'. Emphasizes intentional consumption.
I used up all the ink.
Idiomatic phrase meaning 'to hit bottom' or 'to run out'. Often used for resources like money or patience.
We ran out of funds.
For a document, contract, or period of validity to end.
To move quickly from inside to outside.
For a liquid to escape or drain from a container.
To make someone leave a place, often forcefully.
Transitive verb meaning 'to drive out' or 'to expel'.
They ran him out of the room.
切れる implies a sudden or complete depletion, often for things that are cut off (like a supply line). なくなる is more general and gradual. For expiration, only 切れる is used.
English uses 'run out of X', but Japanese typically uses intransitive verbs with the thing as the subject. Avoid direct translations like 'Xを走り出る'.
子供が家から飛び出した。
The child ran out of the house.
Gas is running out.