ばかり

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. 話はなすばかり [There’s nothing left to do but speak]

• Verb informal past + ばかり
  • E.g. 話はなしたばかり [X has just spoken]

• Verb て-Form + ばかり
  • E.g. 話はなしてばかり [X does nothing by speak]

• い-Adjective informal non-past + ばかり
  • E.g. 高たかいばかり [X is nothing but expensive]

• な-Adjective Stem + なばかり
  • E.g. 静しずかなばかり [X is nothing but quiet]

• Noun + ばかり
  • E.g. 先生せんせいばかり [Nothing but teachers]

• Noun + Particle + ばかり
  • E.g. 学生がくせいにばかり [To nobody but students]

• Quantifier + ばかり
  • E.g. 一時間いちじかんばかり [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けつろんを書かくばかりだ。[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. 彼かれは笑わらうばかりで何なにも説明せつめいしてくれない。 [He does nothing but laugh and does not explain anything to me.]

• With informal past tense verbs:
  • X ばかり indicates that someone has just done X.
    • E.g. 松山まつやまはシカゴに着ついたばかりです。[Mr. Matsuyama has just now arrived in Chicago.]

• 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. ボブは遊あそんでばかりいる。 [Bob is doing nothing but playing.]

• 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やすいばかりだ。[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.
    • E.g. フィッシャー先生せんせいはりさとばかり話はなしている。[Prof. Fisher is speaking with nobody but Lisa.]. Here the と particle mandatorily remains.
    • E.g. デニスはビールばかり飲のんでいます。 [Dennis is drinking nothing but beer.]. Here, を is dropped and replaced by ばかり.

• 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. 十人じゅうにんばかりの友達ともだちが手伝てつだってくれました。[About ten friends helped me.]

Example Sentences:

デザートは食たべるばかりになっている。[As for the dessert, there is nothing left to do except eat it.]

マイクは泣ないてばかりいて何なにも話はなそうとしない。[Mike is doing nothing but crying and won’t talk about anything.]

私わたしは昼ひるごはんを食たべたばかりだ。[I just ate lunch.]

この仕事しごと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.]

この寮りょうに住すんでいるのは男子だんし学生がくせいばかりだ。[The people who live in this dorm are all male students.]

私わたしは１ヶ月いっかげつばかりパリにいた。[I was in Paris for about a month.]

WILD Examples:

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