Noun + ばかり says that there is a lot of the same thing, or that someone does the same thing again and again. It often carries the speaker's feeling that this is too much, so it is common in complaints and worries. It does not have to mean exactly 100%: 肉ばかり食べる means 'eats meat almost all the time', not that the person never eats anything else.
§1Structure
Noun + ばかり. The particles が and を are usually dropped (肉ばかり食べる; 肉ばかりを is also possible). Other particles stay, usually before ばかり: noun + と / に / で + ばかり. At the end of a sentence: noun + ばかりだ / ばかりです. (Verb て-form + ばかりいる is a separate N3 pattern.)
§2Examples
弟は肉ばかり食べて、野菜を食べません。
おとうとはにくばかりたべて、やさいをたべません。
My younger brother eats nothing but meat and doesn't eat vegetables.
最近、雨ばかり降っていますね。
さいきん、あめばかりふっていますね。
It has been raining all the time lately, hasn't it?
息子は毎日ゲームばかりしている。
むすこはまいにちゲームばかりしている。
My son does nothing but play video games every day.
この店のお客さんは若い人ばかりです。
このみせのおきゃくさんはわかいひとばかりです。
The customers at this shop are all young people.
どうして甘い物ばかり買うんですか。
どうしてあまいものばかりかうんですか。
Why do you buy nothing but sweets?
子どものころは、漫画ばかり読んでいました。
こどものころは、まんがばかりよんでいました。
When I was a child, I read nothing but comics.
田中さんは妹とばかり話して、わたしとは話さない。
たなかさんはいもうととばかりはなして、わたしとははなさない。
Mr. Tanaka talks only with my younger sister and doesn't talk with me.
今日は失敗ばかりで、疲れました。
きょうはしっぱいばかりで、つかれました。
Today was one mistake after another, and I'm tired.
§3Common mistakes
- Putting ばかり in the wrong place or keeping を before it. ばかり comes right after the noun it limits: ばかり肉を食べます and 肉をばかり食べます are wrong. Say 肉ばかり食べます.
- Using ばかり for a simple 'only' with an amount. For 'I have only 100 yen', 100円ばかりあります does not work, because ばかり after a number does not mean 'only'. Use だけ or しか〜ない: 100円だけあります / 100円しかありません.
- Confusing noun + ばかり with Verb た-form + ばかり. お茶ばかり飲みました means 'I drank nothing but tea'. お茶を飲んだばかりです means 'I have just had tea'. Look at what comes right before ばかり.
§4How it's different from similar grammar
- だけ (only, a neutral limit)
- だけ draws a clear line: that and nothing else. 朝はパンだけ食べました means bread was the only thing I ate, and it is just a fact. ばかり is about 'so much of the same thing' and usually shows the speaker's negative feeling: 兄は朝も夜もパンばかり食べています (My brother eats bread all the time, and I think that is too much). だけ can also follow numbers (一つだけ), but ばかり in this meaning cannot.
- たばかり (have only just done)
- The same word ばかり has a different meaning after the た-form of a verb. 娘は本ばかり買います (noun + ばかり) means 'My daughter buys nothing but books'. 娘はこの本を買ったばかりです (た-form + ばかり) means 'My daughter has only just bought this book'. The first is about amount or frequency, the second is about time.
§5How this shows up on the JLPT
In N4 grammar questions, ばかり usually appears as one of four particles to choose from, next to だけ, しか and も. Check the end of the sentence: しか needs a negative verb, and ばかり fits when the sentence shows a repeated action or a complaint (毎日, いつも, 〜ている). In sentence-ordering questions, place ばかり directly after the noun and before the verb. In reading passages, ばかり often signals the writer's dissatisfaction.
§6Quick check (3 questions)
1. Choose the word that fits the blank: 弟は勉強しないで、毎日テレビ＿＿見ています。
おとうとはべんきょうしないで、まいにちテレビ＿＿みています。
2. Which sentence correctly says 'My father drinks nothing but coffee'?
3. What does this sentence mean? この公園は子どもばかりです。
このこうえんはこどもばかりです。