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.
お金がなくなった。
I ran out of money.
アイデアがなくなった。
I ran out of ideas.
Transitive verb meaning 'to use up completely'. Emphasizes intentional consumption.
インクを使い切った。
I used up all the ink.
Idiomatic phrase meaning 'to hit bottom' or 'to run out'. Often used for resources like money or patience.
資金が底をついた。
We ran out of funds.
For a document, contract, or period of validity to end.
Same verb as above, but used for expiration of time-limited things like visas, contracts, or tickets.
ビザが切れた。
My visa ran out.
パスポートが切れそうだ。
My passport is about to run out.
More explicit phrase meaning 'the deadline/expiration date passes'.
契約の期限が切れた。
The contract ran out.
To move quickly from inside to outside.
Literally 'run out to the outside'. Natural for describing the action.
彼は外に走り出た。
He ran out.
Means 'to jump out' or 'to rush out', often with a sense of suddenness.
子供が家から飛び出した。
The child ran out of the house.
For a liquid to escape or drain from a container.
Intransitive verb meaning 'to flow out'.
バケツから水が流れ出た。
Water ran out of the bucket.
Means 'to leak' or 'to escape', often for gas or liquid.
To make someone leave a place, often forcefully.
Transitive verb meaning 'to drive out' or 'to expel'.
彼を部屋から追い出した。
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'.
Gas is running out.