をこめて — Pouring In Feeling
Means to do something 'with (a feeling) put into it' — pouring emotion, care, or intention into an action. Attached to nouns of emotion such as 心 (heart), 愛 (love), 感謝 (gratitude), or 願い (wish), it emphasizes the sincerity behind the act, often when making, giving, or performing something.
Structure
[Noun (emotion)] + をこめて + [Verb]
Examples
心をこめて手紙を書きました。
Kokoro o komete tegami o kakimashita.
I wrote the letter with all my heart.
心 (heart) + をこめて shows the letter was written with sincerity.
感謝をこめて、この賞を先生に贈ります。
Kansha o komete, kono shou o sensei ni okurimasu.
With gratitude, I present this award to my teacher.
感謝 (gratitude) + をこめて expresses the emotion behind the gift.
愛をこめて作った料理です。
Ai o komete tsukutta ryouri desu.
This is a dish I made with love.
愛 (love) + をこめて conveys the care poured into cooking.
• Pairs only with nouns expressing feeling or intention (心, 愛, 感謝, 祈り, 願い, 力). • Often set off with a comma when placed at the front of a sentence. • Register: slightly literary/heartfelt; common on cards and in speeches.
Commonly confused with
The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones をこめて is tested against.
vs をもって
をもって means 'by means of / as of' and is formal/procedural, while をこめて specifically packs emotion into an action.
vs とともに
とともに means 'together with' or 'at the same time as', whereas をこめて is about infusing feeling into what you do.
More expressions
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