Grammar Info

N3 Lesson 3: 4/22

ばかりJust, Only, Nothing but

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［て］+ ばかり
Noun + ばかり

Details

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    許り

About ばかり

When used after verbs followed by the conjunction particle て, or nouns, the adverbial particle ばかり highlights that 'nothing but (A) is being done', or 'only (A) exists'. In relation to verbs, てばかり is often followed by いる, as a modified version of the standard ている. However, adding いる is not a requirement, and the same nuance may be conveyed without it.

When a sentence consists of a part (A) and a part (B), ばかり will be followed by either で (with verbs or nouns), or いて (only with verbs). This is when ばかり appears directly before the sentence conjunction point, and other combinations are possible (such as ばかりだから).

It should be noted that the で with ばかり here is not the particle で, but the conjunctive form of the auxiliary verb, だ.

Fun Fact

ばかり is rarely seen using kanji, but it originally comes from 許(ばか)り (sometimes 計(はか)る). This kanji means 'to let off', or 'to let through', and implies that (A) is the only thing that is being 'permitted' in a specific situation.

Antonyms

Related

Examples

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    彼(かれ)はいつも嘘(うそ)ばかり言(い)っている。

    He does nothing but tell lies.

    私(わたし)の弟(おとうと)はゲームをしてばかりですよ。

    My little brother does nothing but play video games.

    知(し)らない顔(かお)ばかりだから緊張(きんちょう)する。

    Because there are only/nothing but unfamiliar faces I feel nervous.

    甘(あま)い物(もの)を食(た)べてばかりいると、虫歯(むしば)が増(ふ)える。

    If you only/do nothing but eat sweets, you will have more cavities.

    いつももらってばかりですみません。

    It seems that I do nothing but receive (gifts) from you. Sorry about that.

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ばかり – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (14 in total)

  • Megumin

    Megumin

    Probably I posted this on the wrong grammar point, I tried to avoid creating a new one. Quoting from this website:

  • gyroninja

    gyroninja

    Well I just checked a single sentence for the たばかり grammar point and it gave a warning / hint when attempting to use たところ.

  • Megumin

    Megumin

    You are right, I guess I just either hit one that doesn’t have it (highly unlikely) or I used it the wrong way (more likely).

    Just tried it the other way around and it also gave me the warning/hint.

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