ばかりnothing but; about
After a noun or a て-form, ばかり says it is all one thing, and usually too much of it: "nothing but", "all the time". After a number it just means "about".
nothing but
My little brother has been eating nothing but sweets lately, and our mother had a word with him about it.
does nothing but
My little sister has an exam coming up, yet all she does is chat with her friends.
about
After resting for about an hour, I got back to work.
Nothing but
Noun + ばかり
甘い物ばかり食べる. With a particle: 私にばかり, 友達とばかり.
Does nothing but
Verb in the て-form + ばかりいる
遊ぶ → 遊んでばかりいる. To join on, いる can go: 話してばかりで.
About
Number + counter + ばかり
一時間ばかり, 三十人ばかり.
In conversation
ばっかり
ゲームばっかり, 寝てばっかり.
Which ばかり?
What comes before ばかり, and after it, tells you which one you have.
Noun or て-form + ばかりN3This page
"Nothing but": too much of one thing, often a complaint.
Eats nothing but meat. Does nothing but play.
Number + ばかりN3This page
"About".
I waited about an hour.
"Keeps getting", usually for the worse.
Things just keep getting worse.
"Only just did". Also たばかりの, たばかりで, たばかりなのに.
I only got here a moment ago.
"Just because", with a bad result and regret.
Just because I told a lie, I lost people's trust.
Nothing but
One thing keeps turning up, and you think it's too much. Plain だけ, "only", has no such opinion in it.
When we have hot pot, my brother eats only the meat.
Meat and nothing else. A fact.
When we have hot pot, my brother eats nothing but meat.
The meat, every time, and you think it's too much. He may eat other things as well.
Even on his days off, all he talks about is work.
There was nothing but small change left in my wallet.
Nothing but bread for lunch again?
I haven't had time. It's been like this all week.
It isn't always a complaint. It can simply say that everyone, or everything, is of one kind.
Everyone in my new class is nice.
Where the particles go
が and を usually give way to ばかり: 肉ばかり食べる, never 肉をばかり. に and と stay, mostly in front of it.
The teacher keeps asking me the questions, and nobody else.
Lately my son spends all his time with his friends.
Does nothing but: てばかりいる
The same complaint about what someone keeps doing, while something else goes undone. Not every minute of the day; it just feels that way. People say it about themselves too.
My little brother does nothing but play games instead of doing his homework.
Lately I've been so afraid of failing that all I do is make excuses.
Why don't you stop staring at your phone all the time and go outside for a bit of a walk?
てばかりいないで: "stop just …ing, and".
At the meeting the department head did all the talking, and nobody else could give an opinion.
With an object you can say it either way: テレビばかり見ている (it's always TV) or テレビを見てばかりいる (it's always watching TV).
About: 一時間ばかり
After a number, ばかり is "about", and there is no complaint in it. It is much less common than くらい.
Walk for about twenty minutes from the station and you come to a park by the river.
About thirty people took part.
Close neighbours
"I can't just keep …ing": it is time to do something else.
I can't stay down forever. I'll start practicing again tomorrow.
Check yourself
1What does this mean?
兄は
Choose an answer to see why.
2Which one fits?
妹は
Choose an answer to see why.
3How long was the wait?
駅で
Choose an answer to see why.
More detail
ばかりが and ばかりを
が or を can also follow ばかり, more in writing than in talk.
The garden is full of white flowers and little else.
少しばかり
A modest "a little", often said when handing over a gift.
It's only a little, but please take it.
ばっか
Among friends, ばっかり shortens again.
Stop complaining all the time and give me a hand.
Three more ばかり turn up in reading:
るばかりだN1
After あとは: "all that's left is to".
The packing is done and the tickets are checked. All that's left is to leave the house.
んばかりN1
"As if about to", in stories.
She clutched the letter, looking as if she were about to burst into tears.
とばかり（に）N1
"As if to say", after quoted words.
The audience burst into applause as if to say, "This is what we've been waiting for."
More sentences
He did nothing but complain during the meeting.
All he did was laugh instead of answering the questions.
Worrying all the time won't change the situation.
All I do is buy a new study guide every week, and I still haven't read a single one to the end.
I went out for a walk with about five hundred yen on me.