only, just

Dake follows a noun or quantity and means only that and nothing more. The sentence stays affirmative, unlike English only which sometimes needs a negative. It can replace wa, ga, or wo, or appear together with them.

Examples

• 少すこしだけ食たべました。

  Sukoshi dake tabemashita.

  I ate only a little.

• 教室きょうしつに学生がくせいが一人ひとりだけいます。

  Kyoushitsu ni gakusei ga hitori dake imasu.

  There is only one student in the classroom.

Vocabulary in these examples

• 少し a little
• 食べる to eat
• 教室 classroom
• 学生 student
• いる to exist (animate); to be

Related patterns · Particles

• 〜は topic marker (as for ...)
• 〜が subject marker
• 〜を direct object marker
• 〜に（時間） at / on (a specific time)
• 〜に（行き先・相手） to (a destination or a person)
• 〜へ toward, to (direction)