ばかり Japanese Grammar Lesson
Grammar Type: Particle
Essential Meaning: Only / Just / Have just done X / Nothing left to do but X / Nothing but X / Approximately X
Construction:
- Verb informal non-past + ばかり
- E.g. 話すばかり [There’s nothing left to do but speak]
- Verb informal past + ばかり
- E.g. 話したばかり [X has just spoken]
- Verb て-Form + ばかり
- E.g. 話してばかり [X does nothing by speak]
- い-Adjective informal non-past + ばかり
- E.g. 高いばかり [X is nothing but expensive]
- な-Adjective Stem + なばかり
- E.g. 静かなばかり [X is nothing but quiet]
- Noun + ばかり
- E.g. 先生ばかり [Nothing but teachers]
- Noun + Particle + ばかり
- E.g. 学生にばかり [To nobody but students]
- Quantifier + ばかり
- E.g. 一時間ばかり [About 1 hour]
Notes:
- The basic meaning of X ばかり is that there is nothing except X. The connotation depends on the part of speech and the tense that precedes ばかり.
- With informal non-past verbs:
- X ばかり means “there is nothing left to do (to complete something) but X”.
- E.g. このレポートはあと結論を書くばかりだ。[There is nothing left to do to finish this report except write a conclusion.]
- In some contexts, X ばかり can also mean that someone does nothing but X (i.e. the same meaning as て ばかり, which is described below).
- E.g. 彼は笑うばかりで何も説明してくれない。 [He does nothing but laugh and does not explain anything to me.]
- X ばかり means “there is nothing left to do (to complete something) but X”.
- With informal past tense verbs:
- X ばかり indicates that someone has just done X.
- E.g. 松山はシカゴに着いたばかりです。[Mr. Matsuyama has just now arrived in Chicago.]
- X ばかり indicates that someone has just done X.
- With て-form verbs:
- X てばかり expresses the idea that someone or something is nothing but X or does nothing but X. It often conveys a judgmental or pejorative connotation. The stative verb いる often follows てばかり。
- E.g. ボブは遊んでばかりいる。 [Bob is doing nothing but playing.]
- X てばかり expresses the idea that someone or something is nothing but X or does nothing but X. It often conveys a judgmental or pejorative connotation. The stative verb いる often follows てばかり。
- With nouns and informal non-past adjectives:
- X ばかりsimply means “nothing but X”.
- E.g. このレストランは安いばかりだ。[This restaurant is nothing but cheap (i.e. the only merit this restaurant has is the fact that it’s cheap).]
- When ばかり follows (Noun + を) or (Noun + が), を and が are dropped and replaced by ばかり. When ばかり follows (Noun + に) or (Noun + へ), に and へ may optionally drop. When ばかり follows other case marking particles (e.g. で or と), the case marker must remain.
- X ばかりsimply means “nothing but X”.
- With quantifiers:
- X ばかり expresses conjecture about some quantity or amount. It translates to “About X” or “Approximately X“. This usage of ばかり stems from its usage in classical Japanese.
- E.g. 十人ばかりの友達が手伝ってくれました。[About ten friends helped me.]
- X ばかり expresses conjecture about some quantity or amount. It translates to “About X” or “Approximately X“. This usage of ばかり stems from its usage in classical Japanese.
Example Sentences:
デザートは食べるばかりになっている。[As for the dessert, there is nothing left to do except eat it.]
マイクは泣いてばかりいて何も話そうとしない。[Mike is doing nothing but crying and won’t talk about anything.]
私は昼ごはんを食べたばかりだ。[I just ate lunch.]
この仕事はめんどうなばかりであまりもうかりません。[This job is nothing but trouble and doesn’t bring much profit.]
この寮に住んでいるのは男子学生ばかりだ。[The people who live in this dorm are all male students.]
私は1ヶ月ばかりパリにいた。[I was in Paris for about a month.]
WILD Examples:
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