～たきり
ever since (no change)
～たきり attaches to the た-form of a verb and means that the action happened once, and after that the situation simply stayed as it was, usually because the expected follow-up never came. It maps to English “ever since ... (not once)” or “... and that was the last time”.
The clause that follows is typically negative (戻らない, 連絡がない) or missing entirely, leaving the sense of “and nothing since” hanging in the air. Unlike ～たまま, which simply describes a state left as it is, ～たきり carries a feeling that something should have happened next but never did.
1. The expected follow-up never happened
Use ～たきり when someone did something once and the natural next step (coming back, calling, replying) never occurred.
彼女は出て行ったきり、戻らなかった。
“She left and never came back.”
- 彼女（かのじょ）= she
- は = topic marker
- 出て行ったきり（でていったきり）= left, and ever since then...
- 戻らなかった（もどらなかった）= did not come back
2. Everyday “haven't ... since”
In casual speech it often marks the last time something happened, with a negative ～ていない clause spelling out what has not happened since.
朝ごはんを食べたきり、何も食べていない。
“I haven't eaten anything since breakfast.”
- 朝ごはん（あさごはん）= breakfast
- を = object marker
- 食べたきり（たべたきり）= ate (once), and since then...
- 何も（なにも）= nothing (with a negative verb)
- 食べていない（たべていない）= have not eaten
How to form it
Verb た-form + きり, followed by a negative or “unchanged” statement
- 出て行く（でていく）= to leave → 出て行ったきり（でていったきり）= left and (never)...
- 会う（あう）= to meet → 会ったきり（あったきり）= met once and (not since)
- 寝る（ねる）= to lie down → 寝たきり（ねたきり）= bedridden (set phrase)
Key idea
～たきり freezes time at one action: it happened once, and from that moment on, nothing changed and nothing followed.
Other N2 grammar
Updated .