aspect N3 common casualpolitewritten
〜てばかりいる — to do nothing but ~
〜てばかりいる ・ てばかりいる
Meaning
- do nothing but ~ / be always ~ing — repeats or dwells on one action to the exclusion of others, usually with a critical tone
Almost always carries disapproval — the speaker is criticising someone for over-doing one thing and neglecting what they should be doing.
Key sentence
彼は文句を言ってばかりいる。
He does nothing but complain.
Formation
| Attaches to | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb (て-form) + ばかり + いる | V-て + ばかりいる | 寝てばかりいる / 遊んでばかりいる |
Examples
息子はゲームをしてばかりいて、勉強しない。
My son does nothing but play games and never studies.
泣いてばかりいないで、何があったか話して。
Stop just crying and tell me what happened.
Easily confused with
〜ばかり 〜てばかりいる is ばかり's 'nothing but' meaning realised on an ongoing action via the て-form + いる. Plain ばかり attaches to a noun (お菓子ばかり) or amount; てばかりいる describes someone continually doing one verb. 〜ている ている neutrally describes an ongoing action (勉強している = 'is studying'). Inserting ばかり (勉強してばかりいる) adds 'and does nothing else,' with a judging tone.
See 〜てばかりいる in real sentences
Jengo shows 〜てばかりいる the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.
Study it in Jengo