Grammar Info

N3 Lesson 6: 13/24

だけしか～ない To emphasize '~only', Nothing but

Can express pity

Structure

Noun + だけしか + ない

Details

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About だけしか

だけしか is a combination of two adverbial particles, だけ 'only', and しか 'nothing but'. This structure primarily follows nouns, before part (B) of the sentence will have a corresponding ない based word.

Despite all of these possibilities, it should be noted that だけしか～ない is an expression that appears with negative verbs, far more than any of the other combinations.

Fun Fact

だけしか may appear as though it is saying 'only' twice, but each particle has its own specific nuance. These nuances are as follows:

だけ - Removes one thing (from within a group), and presents it as the 'only' thing that fits a certain criteria.

しか - Highlights something that exists by itself as not having any alternatives.

Due to this, each meaning compounds together, with だけ saying 'just this', while しか adds 'and only this!'. Reversing the order and putting しか before だけ would not work, as the sequence of selection needs to be logical.

Related

Examples

--:--

    この時間(じかん)、医師(いし)は一人(ひとり)だけしかいません。

    At this time of day, there is only one doctor present.

    椅子(いす)はここにあるものだけしかありません。

    Chairs are the only things here.

    私(わたし)には従兄弟(いとこ)が一人(ひとり)だけしかいません。

    I only have one cousin.

    僕(ぼく)は日本語(にほんご)だけしかできません。

    I can only speak Japanese.

    現金(げんきん)は今(いま)１０００(せん)円(えん)だけしかありません。

    I only have 1000 yen in cash.

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      だけしか – Grammar Discussion

      Most Recent Replies (10 in total)

      • mrnoone

        mrnoone

        English translation:
        To emphasize ‘~only’
        nothing but

        Structure:
        Noun + だけしか + ない

        Explanation:
        Compound particle made of “だけ” and “しか”.

        View on Bunpro

      • eefara

        eefara

        I’ve got a quick question about one of the example sentences.

        私には従兄弟が一人だけしかいません。
        I only have one cousin.

        What is the に doing here beside 私?

      • mrnoone

        mrnoone

        This is alternative construction, you can use either 私には従兄弟が一人だけしかいません and 私は従兄弟が一人だけしかいません.
        Both mean the same thing.

        It is exactly the same as in:
        東京には外国人がたくさんいます。
        東京は外国人がたくさんいます。
        to make things easier by analogy, you can think of yourself as location of cousin.
        Literally: I have only one cousin with me.

        I hope it helps,
        Cheers!

      • eefara

        eefara

        Ah, it makes sense. Thank you!

      • camytang

        camytang

        These example sentences under the explanation confused me:

        • 土曜日どようびだけしか忙いそがしくないから、出来できたら土曜日どようびがいい。

        Only Saturdays aren’t busy, so if possible Saturday is preferable.

        • この中なかではタケシだけしか上手じょうずではない。他ほかはみんな結構けっこううまい。

        In this group, Takeshi is the only one that isn’t good. Everyone else is considerably skilled.

        • 何なんでこのコップだけしか500円えんではないの？

        Why is this cup the only one that isn’t 500yen?

        Am i just confused? Shouldn’t the translation be that only Saturdays are busy, and Takeshi is the only one who is good, and only this cup is 500 yen?

      • tloeser17

        tloeser17

        For whatever it is worth, I agree. (Silver lining for me is that confusion over these sentences drove me to discover the grammar discussion threads.)

      • BambooCake

        BambooCake

        I was just about to create an issue about that! I agree, I’m thoroughly confused by the examples. To me, the example sentences you listed are polar opposites of the other ones on that page.

        Not only that, but deepl.com and Google translate seem to be confused about the meaning, as well (and they work usually quite well, even for more complex phrases, especially deepl.com). Both translate “...

      • ResFort

        ResFort

        I immediately came here to see if someone had asked about this, and your reply took the words out of my mouth, as I had also used other translators out there to double check and that got me utterly confused.
        It’s a shame there has been no answer to this riddle so far…

        If 「土曜日だけしか忙しくない」 means “only Saturdays aren’t busy”, how would you say “only Saturdays are busy” with the しか～ない structure?

      • meagstudies

        meagstudies

        I came to this thread wondering the same thing as everyone else in this thread re: negative vs positive interpretations. I would have thought the sentences would be “only Takeshi is good at” or “only Saturdays are busy” or “the only one that is 500yen.”

      • paprikayes

        paprikayes

        I also came to this discussion thread hoping to find some insight into how the example sentences seem to showcase contradictory meanings. Did anyone here ever come to a conclusion about how to pick up on that nuance? Is it just one of those things that requires greater context to gauge the meaning?

      • nekoyama

        nekoyama

        The example sentence that was being discussed above has been changed to use 下手 instead of 上手, so the conclusion appears to be that that particular contradiction was a mistake in the example sentence.

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