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Particle
| A particle which marks an element X when nothing but X makes the expressed proposition true. | Nothing/nobody/no~ but; only |
| 【Related Expression: ばかり; だけ】 |
(ksa). 戸田さんしか煙草を吸わない・吸いません。
No one but Mr. Toda smokes.
(ksb). 私は日本語しか知らない・知りません。
I know nothing but Japanese.
(ksc). それは江口さんにしか話していない・いません。
I haven't told it to anybody but Mr. Eguchi.
(ksd). 私はご飯を一杯しか食べなかった・食べませんでした。
I had only one bowl of rice.
| (i)Noun | しか | |
| 先生が(subject)→ | 先生しか | No one but the teacher |
| 先生を(direct object)→ | 先生しか | No one but the teacher |
| (ii)Noun+(Particle) | しか | |
| 東京へ・に(direction)→ | 東京(へ・に)しか | To nowhere but Tokyo |
| 先生に(indirect object, agent)→ | 先生(に)しか | No one but the teacher |
| 日曜日に(time)→ | 日曜日(に)しか | Only on Sunday |
| 東京に(location)→ | 東京(に)しか | Only in Tokyo |
| (iii)Noun+Particle | しか | |
| 東京で(location)→ | 東京でしか | Only in Tokyo |
| 車で(means)→ | 車でしか | Only by car |
| 山田さんと(reciprocal)→ | 山田さんとしか | Only with Mr. Yamada |
| 東京から(starting point/source)→ | 東京からしか | Only from Tokyo |
| 五時まで(ending point)→ | 五時までしか | Only till five o'clock |
| (iv)Quantifier | しか | |
| 少ししか | Only a little |
(a). パーティーには学生しか来なかった。
Only students came to the party.
(b). 田村さんはサラダしか食べなかった。
Mr. Tamura ate only salad.
(c). 私は日曜日(に)しか来られません。
I can come only on Sunday.
(d). この本はこの図書館(に)しかありません。
Only this library has this book.
(e). そこは車でしか行けない。
You can go there only by car./ The only way you can go there is by car.
(f). 私は山田さんとしか話をしない。
I talk only with Mr. Yamada.
(g). この学校は学生が百人しかない。
This school has only a hundred students.
しか always occurs with negative predicates.
【Related Expressions】
I. だけ expresses a similar idea, (⇨ だけ) However, だけ and しか differ in the following ways:
(A)
Xしか emphasizes the negative proposition of "non-X", while Xだけ merely describes the situation in neutral fashion.
(B)
しか occurs only with negative predicates; だけ, however, can occur with affirmative predicates. Compare the following sentences:
[1]
[2]
(C)
The verb かかる 'it takes (time)' can be used with しか, but not with だけ, as in [3].
[3]
II. ばかり is also used to mean 'only' in some situations. (⇨ ばかり) Unlike Xしか or Xだけ, however, Xばかり emphasizes the positive proposition of X, often with the implication that someone/something does something to X/with X/... a lot or more than one expects. For example, [4a] emphasizes the fact that Jim drank beer, whereas [4b] emphasizes the fact that Jim didn't drink anything but beer. [4c] is a neutral statement.
[4]
Note that Xばかり cannot be used if X is a single entity. Thus, [5a] is grammatical, but [5b] is not.
[5]
Note also that ばかり cannot be used with negative predicates, as in [6].
[6]