～ばかり
just / only / nothing but
～ばかり has two main jobs, and the form around it tells you which one is in play. After the た-form of a verb, it means an action just happened. After a noun (or in the separate grammar pattern ～てばかりいる), it means “nothing but”: someone does one thing to the exclusion of everything else.
1. Just happened: た-form + ばかり
Use this to say that an action finished only a short time ago. The speaker still feels how recent it is.
今着いたばかりです。
“I just arrived.”
- 今（いま）= now, just now
- 着いた（ついた）= arrived
- ばかり = just (happened)
- です = polite “to be”
2. Nothing but: Noun + ばかり
After a noun, ばかり says that one thing fills the whole picture, often with a critical tone. The pattern て-form + ばかりいる works the same way for actions (e.g. 泣いてばかりいる（ないてばかりいる）= does nothing but cry).
弟はゲームばかりしています。
“My little brother does nothing but play games.”
- 弟（おとうと）= little brother
- は = topic marker
- ゲーム = games
- ばかり = nothing but
- しています = is doing
How to form it
Verb た-form + ばかり (just did) / Noun + ばかり (nothing but)
- 着く（つく）= to arrive → 着いたばかり（ついたばかり）= just arrived
- 始まる（はじまる）= to begin → 始まったばかり（はじまったばかり）= just began
- ゲーム = games → ゲームばかり = nothing but games
Key idea
Check what comes right before ばかり: a た-form means “this happened only a moment ago”, while a noun or て-form means “this one thing, and far too much of it”.
Built on the same stem
Updated .