100648
I read that dake is followed by a postive. So "Sushi dake taberu" is correct
while "Sushi dake tabenai" is wrong. And the first sentence means "I only eat
sushi"

So why does this anime title have dake followed by a negative?

It means "A town where only I live."
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2023-08-14T09:10:04.390
100643
2023-08-14T16:25:32.720
57016
question
grammar particle-だけ
Why is dake followed by a negative verb in "Boku dake ga inai machi"
しか is indeed a [negative-polarity
item](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/16060/5010), but だけ can be used
with both positive and negative sentences:

  * 彼だけ来ます。  
Only he will come.

  * 彼だけ来ません。  
Only he won't come (but others will come).

  * ❌ 彼しか来ます。 (incorrect)
  * 彼しか来ません。  
No one but he will come. / (Unfortunately) Only he will come.

彼だけ来ます and 彼しか来ません roughly mean the same thing, but the former sounds neutral
and matter-of-factly, whereas the latter sounds regrettable.

  * 僕だけがいない街  
a town where only I do not exist  
(a normal town but the existence of me has been erased/ignored)

  * 僕しかいない街  
a town where no one but me exists  
(I am the only person in the town)
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-14T16:20:26.677
100648
2023-08-14T16:25:32.720
2023-08-14T16:25:32.720
5010
5010
100643
answer