～限り
as much as / to the limit
～限り（かぎり）comes from the verb 限る（かぎる, to limit）and marks the full extent of something. Attached to expressions like できる or 可能な, it means doing something “as much as one possibly can”.
In English it corresponds to “as much as possible”, “to the best of one's ability”, or “with all one's ...”.
1. できる限り / 可能な限り: as much as one can
The most common forms are できる限り and the slightly more formal 可能な限り, both meaning “to the greatest extent possible”.
できる限り頑張ります。
“I'll do my best, as much as I can.”
- できる = to be able to / can
- 限り（かぎり）= to the limit of / as much as
- 頑張ります（がんばります）= will do one's best
可能な限り早く返事します。
“I'll reply as quickly as possible.”
- 可能な（かのうな）= possible
- 限り（かぎり）= to the limit of
- 早く（はやく）= quickly
- 返事します（へんじします）= will reply
2. Noun + の限り: with all of something
After a noun plus の, 限り means using every last bit of that resource, as in 力の限り (with all one's strength).
力の限り走った。
“I ran with all my strength.”
- 力（ちから）= strength
- の = linking particle
- 限り（かぎり）= to the limit of
- 走った（はしった）= ran
Both ～限り and ～に限らず are built on 限る (to limit), but they point in opposite directions: ～限り pushes an action up to a limit, while ～に限らず says a statement is not limited to one case.
How to form it
できる / な-adjective + な / Noun + の + 限り
- できる = to be able to → できる限り（できるかぎり）= as much as one can
- 可能（かのう）= possible → 可能な限り（かのうなかぎり）= as far as possible
- 力（ちから）= strength → 力の限り（ちからのかぎり）= with all one's strength
Key idea
～限り draws a line at the maximum and says: go all the way to that line. Whatever ability, time, or strength is available, every bit of it is used.
Other N2 grammar
Updated .