〜てばかり(いる)

About

ばかり, an adverbial particle or, 副助詞ふくじょし, can go between the て and the いる of a ている form verb to form 「〜てばかりいる」. Depending on the sentence, it is also possible to omit いる and simply have 「〜てばかり」.

〜てばかりいる is used to express that there is "nothing but" a certain action or circumstance. In other words, it expresses that a certain action is repeated over and over, or always happens.

〜てばかりいる statements are subjective and depend upon the speaker's point of view.

In casual speech, ばかり often becomes ばっかり, ばっか, or in some regions of Japan, ばっかし.

Summary

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  〜てばかり(いる) expresses that a given action keeps occurring .

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  The final いる of 〜てばかりいる may be omitted.

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  〜てばかりいる statements are subjective.