～たばかりJust did, Something just happened

ばっかり, ばっか, ばかし, and ばっかし are all fairly common casual variations of ばかり

Structure

Verb［た］+ ばかり

Details

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Standard
Rare Kanji
許り

About たばかり

As an adverbial particle, ばかり usually has one of three basic meanings.

Degree: 程度(ていど) - Highlights the 'rough' amount/degree of something (similar to くらい).

Limit: 限定(げんてい) - Highlights the 'limit' of something (similar to だけ).

Completion: 完了(かんりょう) - Highlights the 'end', or 'completion' of something.

In this lesson, we will focus primarily on the completion meaning. When connecting ばかり to the past form of a verb (using た), it will imply that a specific action has 'just finished', 'just stopped', or 'just been completed'.

Fun Fact

Despite having three different meanings, ばかり can be thought of as always highlighting how close one thing is to another.

Degree: 程度(ていど) - Highlights (A)'s degree of closeness (to a stated amount).

Limit: 限定(げんてい) - Highlights (A)'s degree of closeness (to a description).

Completion: 完了(かんりょう) - Highlights (A)'s degree of closeness (to a point in time).

Examples

--:--

今(いま)、家(いえ)を出(で)た許(ばか)りです。

I just left home.

電車(でんしゃ)に乗(の)った許(ばか)りの時(とき)に携帯(けいたい)を落(お)とした。

Just when I got on the train, I dropped my phone.

ユミに彼氏(かれし)が出来(でき)たと聞(き)いた許(ばか)り。

I just heard that Yumi got a boyfriend.

その漢字(かんじ)を習(なら)った許(ばか)りなのに、もう忘(わす)れた。

Even though I just learned that kanji, I already forgot it.

今(いま)の赤(あか)ちゃんは生(う)まれた許(ばか)りでしょう。

The baby we just saw was just born, right?

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たばかり – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (12 in total)

seanblue

English
just did, something just happened

Structure
Verb[ た ] + ばかり

View on Bunpro
seanblue

日本語を勉強しようとしたばかりなのに携帯が鳴った。[する]

Just when I was about to study Japanese, my phone rang.

I’m really struggling with sentences that combine Verb[よう] + とする and Verb[た] + ばかり like this. The grammar says that たばかり means “just did”, which implies past tense. But with “to be about to do” (I assume the intended meaning of しようとする here) it’s harder to understand. Like how you can you be “just about to did something” (or whatever <_<)? Please help!
Nicole

seanblue:

But with “to be about to do” (I assume the intended meaning of しようとする here)

According to Jisho, it rather means something like “to try to do” or “to attempt to do”: https://jisho.org/search/shiyouto

With that translation, the sentence makes more sense to me.
seanblue
Right, “try to” is another meaning given on Bunpro as well. I referenced the “about to” meaning because it was the one used in the translation. But I agree with you that looking at it as “just tried to” makes much more sense, so thanks!

@mrnoone Any thoughts on this?
mrnoone
The translation might cause confusion. So I will change it to I have just tried to study Japanese, but my phone rang.

Verb[vol] + とする means that you try to do something/ to attempt to do something/ to be about to do something.

When ようとする is in past tense, it has a nuance of trying and failing(not being able to finish/ not starting an attempt at all despite having the intention to).
https://bunpro.jp/grammar_points/482

AたばかりB means that A happened(ended) just before B.
In little time after A, B happened.

Sorry for late answer, but caught a flu
seanblue
Okay, that makes sense. I hope you feel better!
Daru
So I know this is a year old post, but I want to throw my two cents.

ばかり is used to give your perception of things as if they had only just happened.
In contrast, ～たところ means that you did something just now. It’s literal.

For example:

日本へ来たばかりなので、まだ日本語が話せません。
I only just got to Japan, so I can’t speak Japanese.

We can’t really tell the time frame as the meaning has more to do with the speaker’s perception of time. It could be yesterday, 3 days ago, 10 years ago.

たった今日本へ来たところなので、空港にいます。
I (literally) just got to Japan, so I’m at the airport.

On this sentence we are just stating the given fact that it happened, no opinion or lofty feelings included. That’s why time words like たった今 and さっき are commonly used with this grammar point. Same goes for ～るところ + これから or ～ているところ + 今.

For contrast, if we were to say:

たった今日本へ来たばかり...
Ambo100
Pushindawood
@Ambo100 I have added this video to the Readings section. Cheers!
Zenguro
I just got this sentence

電車に_____で携帯を落とした。[乗る]

with the hint

Just when I got on…

I immediately thought about using たところ。It wasn’t clear to me that ばかり would be a better fit.
FredKore
I just got the same sentence and had the same reaction.

電車に乗ったばかりで携帯を落とした。
Just when I got on the train, I dropped my phone.

It might be better to have a translation like this:
I just got on the train, and I dropped my phone.
(I think the で makes it tricky to translate.)
CroAniki
Just started this grammar point, thanks for answering a question I had in my head so succinctly!
I think it would be a great addition to the grammar point page as a “Caution” segment or something like that.
nkali
Necroposting here so it’ll be attached to the grammar point discussion. It seems Bunpro does not accept casual versions (ばっかり、ばかし、ばっかし) even in non-keigo questions? I was a bit surprised by that, and need to keep myself in check and retype the answer every time I type ばっかり