〜てばかりいる
Do nothing but 〜てばかりいる
Meaning
Criticises a repeated action — "does nothing but ~", "is always ~ing".
Formation
[verb て-form] + ばかりいる · [noun] + ばかり
Notes
Nearly always disapproving: 遊んでばかりいる ("does nothing but play"). With a noun, ばかり means "nothing but" that thing: 肉ばかり食べる. Distinct from 〜たばかり, which means "just did" — that one takes the た-form.
Examples
弟（おとうと）はゲームをしてばかりいます。
My brother does nothing but play games.
Breakdown
文句（もんく）を言（い）ってばかりいないで、手伝（てつだ）ってください。
Stop just complaining and help me.
Breakdown
肉（にく）ばかり食（た）べないで、野菜（やさい）も食（た）べなさい。
Do not eat only meat — eat vegetables too.
Breakdown
泣（な）いてばかりいても何（なに）も変（か）わりません。
Nothing will change if you only cry.
Breakdown
最近（さいきん）は雨（あめ）ばかりで、洗濯（せんたく）ができません。
It has been nothing but rain lately, so I cannot do the washing.
Breakdown
⚠️ Often confused with
〜しか〜ない
Only 〜しか〜ない
"Only ~" — expresses limitation, with a nuance of "nothing but / not enough". MUST be used...
〜だけ
Only / just だけ
"Only / just ~" — neutral limitation. Unlike しか, だけ goes with an AFFIRMATIVE verb and...
[数量]＋も / [数量]＋しか〜ない
Quantity + も / しか
Colours a quantity as large (も, "as many as") or small (しか〜ない, "only").
〜だらけ
Covered in 〜だらけ
"Covered in ~", "full of ~" — an unpleasant abundance.
〜きり
Ever since / only 〜きり
Two uses: "and that was the last of it" after a past verb, and "just / only" after a noun.
〜なんて
Something like (belittling) 〜なんて
Dismisses or belittles — "something like ~", "the very idea of ~". Can also express surpri...
〜限り（は）
As long as 〜限り（は）
"As long as ~", "as far as ~" — the condition under which the statement holds.
〜ない限り
Unless / so long as not 〜ない限り
"Unless ~", "so long as ~ does not happen".
〜に限らず
Not limited to 〜に限らず
"Not just ~", "not limited to ~".
〜に限って
Of all times 〜に限って
"Of all times / of all people ~"; also "~ alone would never".
〜に限る
Nothing beats 〜に限る
"Nothing beats ~", "~ is the best thing".
〜をもって
As of (formal) 〜をもって
"As of ~", "with ~", "by means of ~" — a formal boundary or instrument.
〜に至るまで
Extending even to 〜に至るまで
"Extending all the way to ~", "down to even ~" — the range reaches an extreme.