~ばかり (nothing but)

grammar

35 sentences

The focus particle ~ばかり, 'only / nothing but X' — often with a faintly negative or critical undertone, suggesting one-sidedness or excess. Common with verbs of habitual action: 文句ばかり言う ('does nothing but complain'), 寝てばかりいる ('does nothing but sleep'), 勉強ばかり ('nothing but studying'). Distinct from だけ ('only, just,' neutral) and のみ ('only,' formal/literary), and from ばかり in its 'approximately' or 'just-did' (~たばかり) senses.

35 sentences

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You're just spouting hair-splitting arguments — what you're saying doesn't hold together at all.

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Midterms start next week. Cramming the night before won't cut it — these problems are impossible to handle that way. Start today.

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All she could do at the sight was cry.

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Every last one of them does nothing but complain.

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As far as the eye can see, there's nothing but water.

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I'm always looking only at you, you know.

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A child who only studies and never plays will go bad.

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She was nearly going insane with anxiety.

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She does nothing but pick at other people's flaws.

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She's always complaining about how I do things.

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She's always nitpicking at me.

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She's always scheming to make money.

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All she could do at the news was cry.

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All she could do at the news was cry and cry.

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Every last one of them is an idiot.

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Yes, since I've been sleeping outdoors the whole time recently, it was nice to finally relax for a change. Thank you.

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If you keep just eating out every day, you'll start to miss home cooking.

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My sister is bad at handling things and keeps losing out.

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My mother kept thinking about nothing but my coming home.

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Far from getting cheaper, prices just kept going up.

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Weakened by multiple respiratory illnesses, he had just been forced to announce his resignation as conductor last week.

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The hungry baby did nothing but cry.

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My father is always forgetting things.

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She does nothing but find fault with her neighbor.

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She does nothing but follow her mother around.

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She did nothing but grieve over her husband's death.

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She does nothing but look for her husband's faults.

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She's always complaining to her husband.

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She does nothing but rattle off complaints.

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She does nothing but suck up to her teacher.