ばかり
ばかり is a particle (mostly functions like a noun); it means something like “just about”. Its kind of similar to だけ, but stresses “a lot of only x” instead of “just x”. ばかり can also be seen as ばっかり、ばっか、or ばっかし。It tends to have a slight negative connotation, like “too many” or “too much”.
See also だらけ
Nouns
Only (too much) X
Noun + ばかり
The most common use of ばかり is with a noun. It means only with a slight negative connotation of too much.
Examples
- 本ばかり持っている – Only have (a lot of) books.
- 赤いペンばっかりある – There’s only (a lot of) red pens here. (But I need a black pen/pencil)
- 人ばかり – Only a lot of people.
- 自分の話ばかりをする人 – A person who only talks about themselves.
Present Tense Verbs
Do only X
Plain present tense verb + ばかり
With a plain present tense verb, it indicates only doing a specific action. This tends to have a negative connotation.
Examples
- 本を読むばかりの授業だった- A class where we just read the book.
- 泣くばかりの子供 – A kid who just cries.
- 遊ぶばっかりの人 – A person who just plays.
Progressive Tense Verbs
Always only doing X
て form verb + ばかりいる
(する verb) X ばかり している
This ばかり might be easier to understand as ばかりいる, since it tends to go before いる. It is very similar to the present tense, but tends to describe current habits, due to ている being a current state. (literally “existing only doing a lot of”)
する verbs can use ばかり after the noun part + している, or between て and いる。This pattern also has a slight negative connotation.
Examples
- 勉強してばかりいる – (Someone/thing) Is always studying
- 勉強ばかりしている – (Someone/thing) Only does studying. (preferred pattern)
- 泣いてばかりいる – Always just crying. (not happy, etc).
- あの子は遊んでばかりいる – Always just playing. (not studying, etc)
Past Tense Verbs (たばかり）
Just Finished X
Simple past tense verb + ばかり
たばかり stresses the immediacy of the completion of an action. It means “Just happened”. Unlike ところ, this time usage of ばかり must use a past tense (completion) word before it.
Examples
- 食べたばっかりなのにもうお腹すいている – I’m already hungry even though I just ate.
- 起きたばかり – Just woke up.
- 静になったばかりなのに、子供が泣き始めた – Just when it became quiet, a kid started to cry.
- 日本に来たばかりの時は大変だった – It was difficult when I just came to Japan. (Just arrived)
Comparisons
Placement
The word ばかり follows the word or action that is emphasized. If the verb is a する verb or uses a generic verb, there is a tendency to attach ばかり to the noun (emphasis is better served there):
- お菓子を食べてばかりいる – Always eating candy.
- お菓子ばかり食べている – Only eats (a lot of) candy.
- 本を読むばかりの授業だった- A class where we just read the book.
- 本ばかりを読む授業だった – A class where we just read books.
Tense
The tense of the sentence is changed with the last verb.
- 泣いてばかりいる – Is always just crying
- 泣いてばかりいた – Was always just crying
- 本ばかりあった – There were only books.
- 本ばかりある – There are only books.
- 自分の話をするばかりの人だ。- A person who only talks about themselves.
- 自分の話をするばかりの人だった – A person who only talked about themselves. (was a person who..)
- 自分の話をしたばかりの人だ – A person who had just talked about themselves. (something happened).
だけ and ばかり
- 本だけ – Just books.
- 本ばかり – Just a lot of books.
- 勉強だけしている △ – Grammatically ok I think, but weird because ばかり is the nuance you want.
- 勉強ばかりしている – Only (a lot of) studying
- 本を読むだけだ – (I’m) just going to read a book.
- 本を読むばかりだ (Someone) Just reads books (too much).