This lesson is all about 抜く. Now, what may be so special about 抜く? It so happens to be used in ways that brings on some somewhat complicated grammar.
抜く means "to extract" or "to remove." It is used in compounds to provide a sense of thoroughness. In other verbs, it describes a state of extreme degree. This is related to the sense of something being thorough.
| To shoot through | 射抜く | いぬく | To see through | 見抜く | みぬく |
| To excerpt | 書き抜く | かきぬく | To gouge out | 刳り抜く | くりぬく |
| To pierce through | 突き抜く | つきぬく | To hit through | ぶち抜く | ぶちぬく |
| To dig through | 掘り抜く | ほりぬく | To pass (car) | 追い抜く | おいぬく |
| To select through | 選り抜く | え・よりぬく | To win through | 勝ち抜く | かちぬく |
| To cut through | 切り抜く | きりぬく | To know thoroughly | 知り抜く | しりぬく |
| To persist through | 耐え抜く | たえぬく | To jump through | 出し抜く | だしぬく |
Examples
1. 彼は辛い仕事をやり抜いた。
He persevered through a harsh job.
2. 手を抜くな。
Don't slack off!
Literally: Don't extract your hand (away).
3. 頑張り抜くのは難しい。
Persisting until the end is difficult.
4. 彼は生き抜けるのか？
Can he make it out alive?
5. 戦国時代を生き抜く。
To live through the Warring States Period.
Word Note: The intransitive version of 抜く is ～抜ける. It too attaches to verbs.
6.逆境を切り抜ける。
To pass through adversity.
「Xぬき｛で・に｝（は）Y（ない）」 shows that putting others aside, without X you wouldn't be able to do Y. What causes either で or に incorrect is based on whether the phrase is dynamic 動態 (で) or static 静態 (に).
7. ちょっと私ぬき｛〇 では・△ には｝イベントが始まらないんじゃなかったの？ Without me, the event wouldn't start, no?
8. 僕ぬき｛で・△ に ｝そんなこと始めるなんてできないよ。
You couldn't even start that without me.
9. そろそろ食事をしますから、私ぬきで、ゲームを続けていてください。
Since I'm having dinner soon, please continue the game without me.
10. 昼ご飯ぬき｛〇で・ Xに｝頑張ってるんですか。
So you're trying without having had lunch?
11. 優勝なんて、あいつぬきじゃ、できっこないんだよ。
(We) won't be able to win victory without that guy.
12. 朝食ぬきで働くなんて、できるわけがないよ。
There's no way I can work without having breakfast.
13. 冗談｛ぬきで・はぬきにして｝、まじめに話し合いましょう。
Leaving jokes aside, let's seriously talk with each other.
As you would imagine, ～ぬきの is used in modifying other noun phrases.
14. 塩ぬきのをください。
One without salt, please.
15. マッシュルームぬきの（ラーメン）をください。
Ramen without mushrooms, please.
～を抜きにして means "leaving out". This means that an X is should be left out for the realization of B. Of course, if the sentence is negative, then the opposite is true.
17. 冗談は抜きにして、そろそろ帰らないと、まずいよ。
Leaving jokes aside, if you don't go home pretty soon, it won't be good.
18. 堅苦しい挨拶｛は抜きに・抜きで｝しましょう。
Let's do without the ceremonious greetings.
19a. 力強い意志を抜きに（して）戦い続けることはできぬぞ。 (Old-man; 武士 talk)
19b. 強気でなければ戦い続けることはできぬぞ。(Old-man; 武士 talk)
Without a powerful will, you will not be able to continue fighting.