kinou wa narande bakari de, otsuri no keisan o suru yoyuu ga nakatta.

topic particle

Breakdown of kinou wa narande bakari de, otsuri no keisan o suru yoyuu ga nakatta.

• を: direct object particle
• が: subject particle
• の: possessive case particle

Questions & Answers about kinou wa narande bakari de, otsuri no keisan o suru yoyuu ga nakatta.

Why is there a は after 昨日? What nuance does 昨日は add?

は marks the topic: 昨日は means “as for yesterday,” setting “yesterday” as the frame for what follows. It can also carry a light contrastive feel (“yesterday, at least/compared to other days”). If you just say 昨日、 (no は), it’s a plain time adverb (“yesterday,”) with less contrastive nuance. Both are grammatical; 昨日は slightly emphasizes yesterday as the subject of discussion.

What does ばかり mean in 並んでばかり? How is it different from だけ?

ばかり here means “nothing but” or “all the time,” often with a mild complaint/exaggeration nuance. 並んでばかり implies “I was just lining up (and doing little else).” だけ is more neutral (“only”): 並ぶだけ lacks that exasperated “nothing but” feel. So ばかり often sounds more emotive or negative than だけ.

Why is 並んで in the て-form? Why not the dictionary form 並ぶ?

The pattern is Vて + ばかり to mean “do nothing but V.” So you need the て-form: 並んでばかり. You’ll also see the fuller pattern Vてばかりいる (“be doing nothing but V”), e.g., 並んでばかりいる.

What is the で after ばかり doing in 並んでばかりで、…?

That で is a conjunctive connector (the 連用形 of the copula) linking to the next clause, roughly “and/so/because.” 並んでばかりで、… means “(I was) only lining up, so….” It’s a common way to present a reason or background leading into the result.