ばかりJust, Only, Nothing but

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.