English translation:
continue to
keep on -ing
more and more
Structure:
Verb[る] + ばかりだ
Verb[る] + ばかりで 、 + Phrase
I think I’ve encountered a discrepancy between how Bunpro teaches ばかり and how it’s described by Kawashima (reference below). She translates the usages of てかばり and ばかりだ somewhat the opposite of how Bunpro teaches them, I think.
Kawashima defines てばかり as, “[showing] that something is always limited to a particular action, place, or thing” (p.5). The English approximations given are, “‘always just doing (something)’, or 'doing only one thing all the time.” Conversely, Bunpro gives てばかり (and 名詞＋ばかり) as “just, only, nothing but.” Kawashima defines 動詞の辞書形＋ばかり as, “could only do something …” (p. 5, 6), and this usage is associated with past tense sentences. Bunpro has, “(only) continue to, keep on -ing, more and more,” which seems more like the sense Kawashima ascribes to てばかり, but I guess could also match the other, except Kawashima translates it differently and only attributes it to past tense sentences.
I already had ばかり in my Anki deck and had been learning the Kawashima senses when ばかりだ came up in Bunrpo and I immediately realized the discrepancy. Can anyone maybe help clarify the different senses and usages?
Kawashima, S. A. (2013). A dictionary of Japanese particles. Kodansha USA, Inc: New York.
I think you want a different usage. There’s several for ばかり.
Your example of てばかり is under ばかり
ばかり | Japanese Grammar SRS
ばかりだ | Japanese Grammar SRS
たばかり | Japanese Grammar SRS
ばかりに | Japanese Grammar SRS
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Edited to use more constructive phrasing
Thank you for the response, but I’m afraid I’m still struggling. As it happens, I reviewed all of the Bunpro lessons about ばかり before creating my reply. I did recognize there were different entries for ばかり (which addresses てばかり) and ばかりだ. That is how I identified what I believe to be the discrepancy between Bunpro and Kawashima. I just ended up picking this one to create my reply.
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You know, I’m really having trouble corroborating this Bunpro lesson with any of the other Japanese language resources I typically turn to. In addition to Kawashima, Makino and Tsutsui also do not ascribe the idea of “continue to, keep on -ing, more and more” to ばかりだ. That sense is also missing from dictionary.ne.goo.jp, and the imabi.net lesson on ばかり doesn’t have that sense, either.
I’m wondering if maybe there isn’t a mistake with Bunpro’s translation here. The notion of “more and more” especially doesn’t fit ばかり’s two basic meanings, which are “about, approximately” (as in Classical Japanese) and “only, just” (its more common modern meaning). I think I’ll go ahead and report this lesson.
Makino, S. & Tsutsui, M. (1989). A dictionary of basic Japanese grammar. The Japan Times Publishing: Tokyo.
This grammar point isn’t a general point about ばかり but specifically about using it with verbs that express change, i.e. when ばかり can be replaced with 一方. When the verb expresses change, the idea of changing “more and more” is just a natural consequence of saying that it’s all something does, so it’s true that it’s not an additional meaning of ばかり as such.
I did find this dictionary definition:
For more references, the 日本語文型辞典 has an entry about ばかりだ expressing 一方的な変化, and the Dictionary of Advanced Japanese Grammar mentions it in the entry on 一方.
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Thanks very much, @nekoyama. Sure enough, I found it in Dictionary of Advanced Japanese Grammar under the 一方 entry, just as you said. It even gives ますます as a related entry, which most certainly would translate as “more and more” in the right context. I stand corrected! I appreciate the other references, too. I can see I need to start consulting more Japanese primary sources.
Looks like I need to add another card to my deck to cover this. I suppose, apart from 一方だ being more formal, the two are otherwise cognatively equivalent when used in this sense? Maybe I can consolidate that into a single card.
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Another difference is that ばかり is generally used with negative trends, while 一方 can be used with both, negative and positive trends.
NEGATIVE
怪我はひどくなるばかりだ。
怪我はひどくなる一方だ。
The injury keeps on getting worse.
POSITIVE
アイテムコストが下がる一方だ。
The costs per item keeps on going down.
Also, 一方 can be also used with certain nouns expressing trends, while ばかり cannot.
WITH NOUNS
Bitcoin価格は騰貴の一方だ。
Price of bitcoin keeps on rising.
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I’m having some real trouble understanding the difference between ばかり and つつある.
The review sentences seem so similar, yet I always use ばかり when it wants to hear つつある and vice versa.