～たばかりJust did, Something just happened

ばっかり, ばっか, ばかし, and ばっかし are all fairly common casual variations of ばかり

Structure

Verb［た］+ ばかり

Details

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Standard
Rare Kanji
許り

About たばかり

As an adverbial particle, ばかり usually has one of three basic meanings.

Degree: 程度(ていど) - Highlights the 'rough' amount/degree of something (similar to くらい).

Limit: 限定(げんてい) - Highlights the 'limit' of something (similar to だけ).

Completion: 完了(かんりょう) - Highlights the 'end', or 'completion' of something.

In this lesson, we will focus primarily on the completion meaning. When connecting ばかり to the past form of a verb (using た), it will imply that a specific action has 'just finished', 'just stopped', or 'just been completed'.

Fun Fact

Despite having three different meanings, ばかり can be thought of as always highlighting how close one thing is to another.

Degree: 程度(ていど) - Highlights (A)'s degree of closeness (to a stated amount).

Limit: 限定(げんてい) - Highlights (A)'s degree of closeness (to a description).

Completion: 完了(かんりょう) - Highlights (A)'s degree of closeness (to a point in time).

Examples

--:--

今(いま)、家(いえ)を出(で)た許(ばか)りです。

I just left home.

電車(でんしゃ)に乗(の)った許(ばか)りの時(とき)に携帯(けいたい)を落(お)とした。

Just when I got on the train, I dropped my phone.

ユミに彼氏(かれし)が出来(でき)たと聞(き)いた許(ばか)り。

I just heard that Yumi got a boyfriend.

その漢字(かんじ)を習(なら)った許(ばか)りなのに、もう忘(わす)れた。

Even though I just learned that kanji, I already forgot it.

今(いま)の赤(あか)ちゃんは生(う)まれた許(ばか)りでしょう。

The baby we just saw was just born, right?

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Online
- Expressing what just happened with 「～ばかり」
  Tae Kim
- How to use ばかり
  MaggieSensei
- たばかり vs. てばかり
  Japanese Ammo with Misa [Youtube]
- ところ vs. ばかり
  Nihongo Learner

Offline
- [AIAIJ] An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese
  Page 13
- [DBJG] A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar
  Page 84
- Tae Kim's Japanese Grammar Guide
  Page 288
- Tobira
  Page 95
- みんなの日本語 II
  Page 132 [CH 46]
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たばかり – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (12 in total)

FredKore
I just got the same sentence and had the same reaction.

電車に乗ったばかりで携帯を落とした。
Just when I got on the train, I dropped my phone.

It might be better to have a translation like this:
I just got on the train, and I dropped my phone.
(I think the で makes it tricky to translate.)
CroAniki
Just started this grammar point, thanks for answering a question I had in my head so succinctly!
I think it would be a great addition to the grammar point page as a “Caution” segment or something like that.
nkali
Necroposting here so it’ll be attached to the grammar point discussion. It seems Bunpro does not accept casual versions (ばっかり、ばかし、ばっかし) even in non-keigo questions? I was a bit surprised by that, and need to keep myself in check and retype the answer every time I type ばっかり