限る · godan verb (-ru)
| Form | Positive | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| Dictionary | 限る | 限らない |
| Polite | 限ります | 限りません |
| Past polite | 限りました | 限りませんでした |
| Past | 限った | 限らなかった |
| Te-form | 限って | 限らないで |
| Desire | 限りたい | 限りたくない |
| Potential | 限れる | 限れない |
| Passive | 限られる | 限られない |
| Causative | 限らせる | 限らせない |
| Causative passive | 限らせられるalso 限らされる | 限らせられないalso 限らされない |
| Volitional | 限ろう | |
| Polite volitional | 限りましょう | |
| Imperative | 限れ | 限るな |
| Conditional | 限れば | 限らなければ |
| Tara conditional | 限ったら | 限らなかったら |
godan verb (-ru), transitive verb
Transitive use: actively set a limit on something. Often used with を.
We will limit the number of people to ten.
Please confine your remarks to the main points.
godan verb (-ru), intransitive verb
be limited to; be restricted to
Intransitive use: something is limited to a certain range or condition. Often used with に.
This privilege is limited to members.
Applications are limited to one per person.
godan verb (-ru), intransitive verb
is best; is the best plan; is the only way
Fixed pattern ...は...に限る, meaning 'nothing beats ...' or '... is the best'. Expresses a strong recommendation.
In summer, nothing beats a cold beer.
When you're tired, sleeping is the best thing to do.
They limited the number of participants to ten.
This benefit is limited to members.
In summer, nothing beats beer.
Expensive things aren't necessarily good.
Customers always show up exactly when I'm busy.
限る means something is restricted to a certain scope, close to the 'be limited to' sense of 止まる（とどまる）, but 限る is more general-purpose and not tied to the ～にとどまる construction.
見限る means to give up on or abandon someone, while 限る means to limit or restrict, and the two are easily confused because they share the kanji 限る.
限る is the verb 'to limit/be limited to' from which the noun/suffix 限り derives, so learners must distinguish the verb form from the noun/suffix usage.
give up on; abandon; forsake; turn one's back on
limit; bounds; maximum · extent; degree; scope · the end; the last · as long as; as far as; as much as · unless · (not) included in; (not) part of · extremely; very much · only; just · death; end of life; funeral
unlimited; endless; boundless; infinite
next-month delivery; delivery in the following month
with all one's might; to the utmost
temporary; makeshift; ad hoc; stopgap
forever and ever; for all eternity