Watashi dake oosaka e ikimasu
“Dake” and “shika” are used with subjects, objects, and other parts of sentences. Their function is to limit the scope of what is being discussed by adding “dake” or “shika” after nouns.
For example:
- “Dake” means “only” or “just”: “Watashi dake” (only me), “Gohan dake” (just rice).
- “Shika” is used with a negative verb form and means “nothing but” or “only”: “Gohan shika tabenai” (I eat nothing but rice).
“dake”
Regarding the limited things, the person does something specific. In the diagram below, だけ (dake) represents the yellow part, indicating the limited scope or extent of what is being discussed. Here, “dake” is used to specify that the action is limited to the mentioned items.
- Watashi dake oosaka e ikimasu. (Only I go to Osaka)
- Watashi wa niku dake tabemasu. (I eat only meat.)
- Konkai wa kankoku dake ikimasu. (This time, I go to only Korea.)
“shika”
The meanings of the sentences using “dake” and “shika” are the same, but the focused points are different. “shika” is always used with negative sentences, emphasizing what is excluded outside the scope defined by “dake”.
- “dake” highlights what is included. For example, “mizu dake nomu” means “I drink only water,” focusing on the inclusion of water.
- “shika” highlights what is excluded. For example, “mizu shika nomanai” means “I drink nothing but water,” focusing on the exclusion of everything else.
In the diagram below, the yellow part represents “dake”, indicating the specific thing that is included (water in this case), while the blue part represents “shika”, indicating everything that is excluded from the scope (all other beverages).
This distinction highlights that while both particles limit the scope, “dake” emphasizes what is included, whereas “shika” emphasizes what is excluded.
- Watashi shika oosaka e ikimasen. (Other than me, they don’t go to Osaka. = Only I go to Osaka.)
- Watashi wa niku shika tabemasen. (I don’t eat other foods than meat. = I only eat meat.)
- Konkai wa kankoku shika ikimasen. (This time, I don’t go to other places than Korea. = I go to only Korea.)
Word
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| yasai | vegetables |
| kutsu | shoes |
| uru | sell |
| heijitsu | week day |
| yaru | do, give |
Expression
Yasai dake kaimashita. (Yasai shika kaimasendeshita.)
Kono kutsu wa nihon dake de utteimasu. (Kono kutsu wa nihon de shika utteimasen.)
Ano resutoran wa hejitsu dake yatteimasu. (Ano resutoran wa heijitsu shika yatteimasen.)
Exercise
Question
Change the following sentences to the same meaning, using “shika”.
- Heijitsu dake oopun shimasu.
- Kono omise wa toukyou ni dake arimasu.
Answer
- Heijitsu shika oopun shimasen.
- Kono omise wa toukyou ni shika arimasen.