文法Grammar Point
ta bakari · JLPT N3
〜たばかり means “just did”. It is a JLPT N3 pattern: below are its construction, the nuances that trip learners up, and the sentences where real Japanese writers use it.
A free one-page study card for 〜たばかり (just did), JLPT N3: what it means, how it attaches, 3 example sentences with furigana, and the nuances that trip learners up. Read it right here, or take the PDF or PNG with you. We never ask for an email for this card.
今、着いたばかりです is “I’ve only just arrived.” Attach ばかり to the plain past. The subtle part is that ばかり measures how recent something FEELS rather than what the clock says: 日本に来たばかりです is perfectly natural after six months if you still feel new. That is exactly what separates it from 〜たところ, which really does mean the last few minutes.
構文Construction
Verb (plain past) + ばかり
食べたばかりなので、おなかがいっぱいです。 — I’ve just eaten, so I’m full.
Modifying a noun: 〜たばかりの + noun
買ったばかりの靴が汚れた。 — My brand-new shoes got dirty.
With のに — “and yet already”
習ったばかりなのに、もう忘れた。 — I only just learned it and I’ve already forgotten.
例文In a sentence
今、駅に着いたばかりです。
買ったばかりの靴が汚れてしまった。
習ったばかりなのに、もう忘れました。
注意点Nuances
練習Your Turn
Each one is quoted from a published Japanese text in this library and links to the story it came from. Some use older spellings, or break off where the sentence carried on. They are transcribed exactly as their authors wrote them.
今日学校でおそわったばかりではありませんか。
— from The First Graders and the Ducklings (N4)
それは、良ちゃんはまだ小さくて、やっと今年から学校へ上がったばかりなのですもの。
— from Little Brother Ryo-chan (N3)
玄関前に焚火をしたばかりの痕があった。
— from The Funeral Procession (N2)
あぶらあげをたべたばかりの口をふきながら
— from The Mouse's Mistake (N4)
4 sentences taken from real Japanese texts, with the grammar removed. Pick what belongs in the gap.
Question 1 of 4
カラタール氏は今日の午後、中部亜米利加から入港しblankであるが、緊急な事件が突発したため…
Answer: たばかり — from The Disappearance of the Express Train (N1)
今日学校でおそわっblankではありませんか。
Answer: たばかり — from The First Graders and the Ducklings (N4)
あぶらあげをたべblankの口をふきながら
Answer: たばかり — from The Mouse's Mistake (N4)
それは、良ちゃんはまだ小さくて、やっと今年から学校へ上がっblankなのですもの。
Answer: たばかり — from Little Brother Ryo-chan (N3)
Read the texts these came from
Every sentence above came from a free text you can read here in full, with the rest of the story around it.
Appears in 5 of 367 texts in our library.
蔵書The texts
Free to read in full. Furigana over every kanji, a dictionary on any word you tap, and an English breakdown of each sentence.
解説Background
〜たばかり sits at JLPT N3 in the 302-point taxonomy every text in this library is tagged against. Each text is read for the patterns it contains, which is what lets this page list every text that uses 〜たばかり and pull its example sentences out of them.
The example sentences were not written to demonstrate the rule. They are quoted from published Japanese texts in this library (The First Graders and the Ducklings and Little Brother Ryo-chan among them), and each one links back to the story it came from, so you can read the sentence where it actually happened.
質問Questions
〜たところ is literal: the action finished moments ago (今、終わったところです). 〜たばかり is psychological and stretches — 引っ越したばかり can mean weeks ago, as long as it still feels recent to you.
Add の and put it straight in front of the noun: 焼いたばかりのパン (“bread just out of the oven”), 生まれたばかりの子猫 (“a newborn kitten”), 開店したばかりの店 (“a shop that has only just opened”). It is the everyday way to say something is brand new.
Completely. 〜たばかり (past form) means “just did it once”; 〜てばかり (て-form) means “does nothing but”. 飲んだばかり is “just had a drink”, 飲んでばかり is “always drinking”.
Yes. A free one-page 〜たばかり (just did) study card sits at the top of this page, as both a PDF and a PNG. It carries the JLPT N3 meaning, how the pattern attaches, 3 example sentences with furigana, and the nuances learners get wrong. You do not need an account or an email address to download it.
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