N4 grammar

〜てしまう

teshimau

Finishing it, or regretting it

Formation

てしまう does two jobs that feel unrelated until you use it: finishing something completely, and doing something you wish you had not. Tone and context decide which one is meant. Speech contracts it hard, to ちゃう and じゃう.

Examples

〜てしまう is marked in each sentence. Tap any word for its dictionary entry.

  1. I've worn out my shoes.

  2. I've lost your email address.

  3. I'm afraid we don't have any left.

  4. Summer has gone all too soon.

  5. Let's do this first of all.

The explanation is ours, written for this site. Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR), each machine-checked to actually contain the pattern. Furigana is generated automatically, so a rare reading may be imperfect.