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I saw a sentence that got me thinking―what if I used **きり** here instead?

> 彼女はこの前会っ **てから** ずいぶん変わった。  
>  (*て form required)

Then, I replaced **から** with **きり** , and asked on HiNative.

> X彼女はこの前会っ **たきり** ずいぶん変わった。

I was told this sentence was wrong. However, I thought this was probably
correct before posting it, because I had found this sentence on
Japanesetest4you beforehand:

> 翌朝、彼女はホテルを徒歩で出かけたきり、二度と姿を見せないのです。

Here, **きり** follows the **past tense** of the verb **出かける** , and is then
followed by a clause which explains what has taken place since the event in
the previous one. If this sentence is correct, I do not see why the one I made
using **きり** in place of **から** isn't.

皆様にいつも色々お世話になっておりますが…またご教授をお願いいたします。
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-03T15:11:01.837
59207
2019-12-28T12:29:11.197
27674
question
grammar
きり and から: When the meaning "since" is used, how do they differ?
「きり」 and 「から」 are _**very**_ different in meaning/usage and the way they are
grammatically attached to verbs.

_**Meaning/Usage:**_

「から」 is the _**plain and neutral**_ "since". An event occurred sometime in the
past and since then, something may or may not have changed. Another event may
or may not have taken place since then.

「きり」 is highly _**negative (and often emphatic and even emotional)**_ in
nature. An event occurred in the past and since then, the things one would
have expected to occur have not occurred as of the present moment. The speaker
is often expressing regrets about things not having turned out the way s/he
had hoped for.

_**Grammar:**_

「から」 attaches to the _**te-form**_ of a verb.

「きり」 attaches to the _**past tense form**_ of a verb.

Now, let us study your example sentences.

> 「彼女{かのじょ}はこの前会{まえあ}って **から** ずいぶん変{か}わった。」 ("She has changed so much since
> we met the last time.")

It is a perfectly-formed sentence. 「から」 is being used correctly both
grammatically and meaning-wise.

Moving onto the next sentence:

> 「彼女はこの前会った **きり** ずいぶん変わった。」

This sentence makes practically no sense in my Japanese brains, which is why I
am being unable to provide a translation. People can change either faster or
more slowly than others might expect. Thus, 「から」 needs to be used instead
here.

Only when talking about " _ **no action or change for too long**_ ", 「きり」 can
be used properly.

A correct and natural-sounding sentence using 「きり」 would be something like:

> 「ミドリさんは8年前{ねんまえ}アフリカへ行{い}った **きり** 一度{いちど}も日本{にほん}に戻{もど}ってきていません。」
>
> "Ever since Midori went to Africa 8 years ago, she has never returned to
> Japan."

This sentence is valid because it talks about the situation that the speaker
could not have anticipated 8 years ago. This is the type of
feeling/emotion/regret, etc. that 「きり」 can express almost single-handedly.
Plain and neutral words like 「から」 would not have that kind of "power".

If you replaced the 「行ったきり」 by 「行ってから」, you would still have a "grammatically
correct sentence", but the new sentence using 「から」 would lack the intended
nuance of regret/surprise, etc. The new sentence would sound as if the speaker
had actually expected that Midori would never return home.

Finally, the sentence:

> 「翌朝{よくあさ}、彼女{かのじょ}はホテルを徒歩{とほ}で出{で}かけた **きり** 、二度{にど}と姿{すがた}を見{み}せないのです。」
>
> "Ever since she walked out of the hotel the following morning, she has not
> shown up."

sounds good and natural because it looks as though this woman had mysteriously
"disappeared". That is news enough to talk about using a 「きり」.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-03T16:51:46.950
59211
2019-12-28T12:29:11.197
2020-06-17T08:18:27.500
-1
59207
answer