尽 (jìn) · to use up; to exhaust

Meanings

1 to use up; to exhaust
2 to end; to finish
3 to the utmost
4 all; entirely

Characters

尽

jìn

to exhaust; to the utmost

Examples

HSK 4

他用尽了全部力气。

Tā yòngjìn le quánbù lìqi.

He used up all his strength.

HSK 5

我们会尽力帮你。

Wǒmen huì jìnlì bāng nǐ.

We will do our utmost to help you.

HSK 7-9

这条路的尽头有一座庙。

Zhè tiáo lù de jìntóu yǒu yī zuò miào.

There is a temple at the end of this road.

Tips

usage

As jìn, 尽 means use up / exhaust / reach the end: 用尽 (use up), 尽力 (do one's utmost), 尽头 (the very end), 尽情 (to one's heart's content). The thread is 'all the way to the bottom - nothing left.'

mistakes

尽 has two readings. jìn = use up / utmost (尽力, 用尽, 尽头). jǐn = greatest extent / priority (尽管, 尽量, 尽快). Rule of thumb: if it means 'within the limits / as far as / give priority' it's jǐn; if it means 'all the way to the end / exhausted' it's jìn.

Components

radical

尺 chǐ

ruler; foot (here graphic)

Top portion has the 尺 silhouette and gives the indexing radical 尸 (body). The modern 尽 is a heavy simplification of two distinct traditional characters (儘 'as much as possible' and 盡 'exhaust') - neither original phonetic survived. Treat the 尺 outline here as a structural shell.

ideograph

⺀ diǎn

two dots (graphic residue)

Two small dots inside the shell. In the traditional 盡, this slot held a hand 又 with a brush sweeping out the last contents of a vessel 皿 - the literal act of using something up. The simplified 尽 collapsed all of that to two dots; learn it as an abstract residue rather than a productive component.