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突き止める (つきとめる) Japanese meaning | Kotomora
JLPT N1 › Freq. Frequency Top 50,000 Conjugation 突き止める · ichidan verb
Form Positive Negative Dictionary 突つ き 止と める 突つ き 止と めない Polite 突つ き 止と めます 突つ き 止と めません Past polite 突つ き 止と めました 突つ き 止と めませんでした Past 突つ き 止と めた 突つ き 止と めなかった Te-form 突つ き 止と めて 突つ き 止と めないで Desire 突つ き 止と めたい 突つ き 止と めたくない Potential 突つ き 止と められる also 突つ き 止と めれる 突つ き 止と められない also 突つ き 止と めれない Passive 突つ き 止と められる 突つ き 止と められない Causative 突つ き 止と めさせる 突つ き 止と めさせない Causative passive 突つ き 止と めさせられる 突つ き 止と めさせられない Volitional 突つ き 止と めよう Polite volitional 突つ き 止と めましょう Imperative 突つ き 止と めろ 突つ き 止と めるな Conditional 突つ き 止と めれば 突つ き 止と めなければ Tara conditional 突つ き 止と めたら 突つ き 止と めなかったら
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警けい 察さつ は 事じ 件けん の 原げん 因いん を 突つ き 止と め た 。
The police determined the cause of the incident.
Usage patterns 〈 事こと 〉 の 原げん 因いん を 突つ き 止と める to determine the cause of something
As a result of the investigation, they determined the cause of the accident.
〈 人ひと 〉 の 居い 場ば 所しょ を 突つ き 止と める to locate someone's whereabouts
The police located the escaped criminal's whereabouts.
〈 人ひと 〉 の 正しょう 体たい を 突つ き 止と める to identify someone's true identity
The reporter identified the true identity of the source.
Kanji 突 stab, protruding, thrust Related words 特定する is more formal and often used in technical or legal contexts for identifying something precisely, while 突き止める implies investigative effort to track something down.
割り出す emphasizes calculating or deducing an answer from data or clues, while 突き止める emphasizes the final act of pinning down a fact through investigation.
解明する means to clarify or solve a mystery or phenomenon in general, whereas 突き止める focuses narrowly on locating or confirming a specific fact, cause, or person.
見つけ出す simply means to find something after searching, while 突き止める carries a stronger sense of deduction and persistent investigation to confirm the truth.
Don't confuse with 突き殺す is the modern verb for stabbing someone to death, while 突き止める only carries that meaning as an archaic, now-unused sense and is normally used for identifying or locating something.
突き止める shares the ...止める ending and means to track down or pinpoint the cause of something, while 食い止める means to stop the advance or spread of something undesirable.
Written forms 突つ き 止と める Usage 44%
Standard kanji spelling; high-frequency news word.
つきとめる Usage 36%
Kana spelling is common in everyday writing when the kanji is not needed.
突つ きとめる Usage 21%
突つき 止と める
Etymology Compound of 突く (tsuku, 'to thrust, poke') + 止める (tomeru, 'to stop, fix'). The original meaning was 'to stab and stop (someone)', which developed into 'to pin down' and then 'to ascertain, locate'.
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進すす
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N1
突き止める means to determine or track down (a cause, culprit, etc.), which learners may confuse with 突き進む due to the shared 突き prefix, but the meanings are unrelated.
Usage <1%
