〜だらけ

Noun + だらけ (泥だらけ, 間違いだらけ, ごみだらけ). It works like a noun: だらけだ / だらけです, だらけの + noun (傷だらけの机), だらけで, だらけになる. Before a noun, use の.

• 私の作文は間違いだらけでした。

  わたしのさくぶんはまちがいだらけでした。

  My essay was full of mistakes.

• 弟の部屋は、いつもごみだらけです。

  おとうとのへやは、いつもごみだらけです。

  My younger brother's room is always full of trash.

• 公園から帰ってきた息子の靴は、砂だらけだった。

  こうえんからかえってきたむすこのくつは、すなだらけだった。

  When my son came back from the park, his shoes were covered in sand.

• 傷だらけの古い机ですが、大切に使っています。

  きずだらけのふるいつくえですが、たいせつにつかっています。

  It's an old desk covered in scratches, but I use it with care.

• かばんの中、どうしてこんなにレシートだらけなの？

  かばんのなか、どうしてこんなにレシートだらけなの？

  Why is your bag so full of receipts?

• 窓がほこりだらけで、外がよく見えません。

  まどがほこりだらけで、そとがよくみえません。

  The window is covered in dust, so I can't see outside well.

• Using だらけ for nice things. だらけ usually sounds like there is too much of something unwanted. For a garden with many beautiful flowers: ✕ 庭はきれいな花だらけです → ○ 庭はきれいな花でいっぱいです.
• Putting の between the noun and だらけ, or using な before another noun. だらけ comes right after the noun: ✕ 泥のだらけ → ○ 泥だらけ. Before another noun, the standard form is だらけの: 泥だらけの靴 (not 泥だらけな靴).
• Using だらけ when there is only a little. だらけ means 'a lot, all over'. For one small stain: ✕ シャツに小さいしみが一つあって、しみだらけだ → ○ シャツに小さいしみが一つある.

〜ばかり (only, nothing but)

ばかり says that there is only one kind of thing and nothing else, and it is also used for neutral things: この店の客は学生ばかりだ (The customers of this shop are all students). だらけ says that something unwanted covers a surface or is all over a place: 雨の日に歩いて、ズボンが泥だらけだ (I walked on a rainy day, and my trousers are covered in mud). For mud on clothes, ✕ ズボンが泥ばかりだ is not natural.

〜っぽい (-ish, feels like)

ほこりっぽい describes how a place feels: there seems to be dust in the air, and the room does not feel clean. ほこりだらけ says that you can see a lot of dust lying all over the room, the shelves, and the floor. だらけ is about a lot of something you can see; っぽい is about a feeling or look.

In N3 grammar-choice questions, だらけ is tested against ばかり, っぽい, and 気味. Look for dirty or unwanted things (泥, ほこり, 間違い, 傷, ごみ) and words that show a large amount (こんなに, 全部): they point to だらけ. In sentence-ordering questions, remember the forms だらけの + noun and だらけになる. In reading, だらけ often shows the writer's surprise or complaint about how much there is.