～ばかりだ

When to use

"Nothing but getting worse/only continuing to..." - describes a one-directional negative trend.

Explanation

The ～ばかりだ grammar point is used to express a continuing or unchanging state, often emphasizing a negative or undesired tendency. It can be translated as 'just', 'only', or 'always' in English. The formation differs depending on whether it is used with a verb, い-adjective, な-adjective, or noun.

• 彼かれは文句もんくを言いってばかりだ。

  He is always complaining.

  Kare wa monku wo itte bakari da.

• この映画えいがは面白おもしろくなくて、退屈たいくつしてばかりだ。

  This movie isn't interesting, and I'm just bored.

  Kono eiga wa omoshirokunakute, taikutsu shite bakari da.

• 彼女かのじょは暇ひまでいるばかりだ。

  She is always just idling around with nothing to do.

  Kanojo wa hima de iru bakari da.

• 最近さいきん、仕事しごとの失敗しっぱいばかりだ。

  Lately, it’s just been one failure at work after another.

  Saikin, shigoto no shippai bakari da.

Exclusivity (Only / Nothing But)

• Noun だけ〜〜dakeN5Indicates 'only', 'just', or 'merely'.
• Noun しか～ないNoun shika~naiN4Expresses 'only', 'nothing but', or 'no other'.
• ～だけしか～dake shikaN3Emphasizes the scarcity or insufficiency of something…
• Noun ばかり〜bakariN4Expresses 'only', 'nothing but', 'always', or 'just'.
• ～に過ぎない〜ni suginaiN2Expresses that something is 'just' or 'nothing more than'…
• ～に限り〜ni kagiriN2Expresses limitation; 'only', 'limited to', 'exclusive to'.
• ～にほかならない〜ni hoka naranaiN2Express that something is 'nothing but' or 'none other…
• ～しかない〜shika naiN3Express the idea of 'only', 'no other option but'…
• Noun を おいて他に Verb ない〜wo oite hoka ni〜naiN1Means 'apart from ~ there's nothing else,' implying the…
• ～のは Noun ぐらいのものだ〜no wa Noun gurai no mono daN1Conveys that 'only (Noun) is the case' or 'nothing but…

Compare when to use each