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My understanding of ばかり so far:

After TE form, the meaning is unambiguous as it applies to the verb, e.g.:

> 本を読んでばかりいる。Do nothing but read books.

However, placed after the noun

> 本ばかりを読む

The meaning is left ambiguous as it could mean

  1. read books only (i.e. nothing else, not magazines, not brochures etc., no implication on how much time the person spends actually reading.)

Alternatively, same as before

  2. ONLY read books (i.e. do nothing else BUT read, no implication on the actual material).

However, in another example from a grammar book:

> ジョンはビールばかり飲んでいる

It's listed as "John is drinking beer the whole time (he doesn't do anything
else)."

I'm not sure whether the meaning is left ambiguous here with this particular
translation picked arbitrarily (which would confirm my previous understanding)
or one-way only (which would oppose it, to some degree).
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2015-04-27T14:55:09.507
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2021-11-25T19:42:30.247
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question
grammar particle-ばかり
noun + ばかり [exclusivity sense] ambiguity
本ばかり読む is basically "read books only", but it actually means "only read books"
too, as you said. ジョンはビールばかり飲んでいる is the same, it can also mean he may do
something besides drinking beer. It's ambiguous in that sense.
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2015-04-28T10:28:23.143
23999
2015-04-28T10:28:23.143
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answer
Try looking at it this way:

> [thing/action] + ばかり

This typically means "[thing/action] only".

You can add more structure to that sentence. But if you fill in the blank with
a thing or action of your choice, it typically means that you are doing "that
thing/action only".

Take your example with John and the beer:

> ジョンは **[ビール] ばかり** 飲んでいる。 John is drinking **only [beer]**.

This could describe a 飲み放題 situation where John has a wide variety of drinks
to choose from, but he chooses to only drink beer.

Compare with a related situation using the other sentence structure you
mentioned:

> ジョンは **[ビールを飲んで] ばかり** いる。 John is **only [drinking beer]**.

This situation could describe a party at an 居酒屋 where there are a lot of
people hanging out, talking, eating, drinking. But John spends the whole night
drinking beer and refrains from eating or talking to anyone.

The translation I gave in the second example is not the best, but it remains
consistent with the formula used in the first example. A better translation
would be, "John is just drinking beer," or, "John spends the whole night just
drinking beer."
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2015-04-29T23:48:09.340
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2015-04-29T23:48:09.340
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answer