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Lesson 242: Only - だけ
We can use the word だけ when we want to express the idea of only or just, by placing だけ after nouns, verbs or adjectives.
| Verb + だけ | Noun + だけ | い-adjective + だけ | な-adjective + な + だけ |
| (I) just saw (him). |
見ただけだ。 mita dake da. |
| I only eat fish. |
魚だけ食べます。 sakana dake tabemasu. |
See the below sentences for more examples of how to use だけ.
We can combine the word だけ with できる to make the expression でき るだけ, meaning as much as possible.
| I'll get up as early as possible on Monday. |
月曜日はできるだけ早く起きます。 getuyoubi ha dekiru dake hayaku okimasu. |
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| only; just |
だけ dake |
| (I) just saw (him). |
見ただけだ。 mita dake da. |
| fish |
魚 sakana |
| I only eat fish. |
魚だけ食べます。 sakana dake tabemasu. |
| to sleep; to lie down; to go to bed |
寝る neru |
| to tire |
疲れる tukareru |
| I'm really tired. I only slept for three hours. |
とても疲れていますよ。三時間だけ寝ました。 totemo tukarete imasu yo. sanzikan dake nemasita. |
| No, I'm just looking. |
いいえ、見ているだけです。 iie, mite iru dake desu. |
| A: What have we got to drink? B: There's just this. |
「飲み物は何があるか。」「これだけだ。」 nomimono ha nani ga aru ka. kore dake da. |
| I've only met him once. |
一回だけ会いました。 ikkai dake aimasita. |
| to get up; to wake up |
起きる okiru |
| as much as possible |
できるだけ dekiru dake |
| I'll get up as early as possible on Monday. |
月曜日はできるだけ早く起きます。 getuyoubi ha dekiru dake hayaku okimasu. |
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