ばかりに details
write + (past) + all because — one small thing, and it cost far more than it should have
kaita bakarini
all because — one small thing, and it cost far more than it should have
一言余計なこと言ったばかりに、めちゃくちゃ怒られた。
hitokoto yokei na koto itta bakari ni, mechakucha okorareta.
All because I said one thing too many, I got absolutely torn into. casual
保証書をなくしたばかりに、修理代を全額払うことになった。
hoshousho o nakushita bakari ni, shuuridai o zengaku harau koto ni natta.
All because I lost the warranty card, I ended up paying the full repair bill. neutral
- た-form
- ない-form
- i-adjective
- na-adjective
Examples
all because — a single small act or trait triggers a consequence the speaker regrets out of proportion
一言余計なこと言ったばかりに、めちゃくちゃ怒られた。
hitokoto yokei na koto itta bakari ni, mechakucha okorareta.
All because I said one thing too many, I got absolutely torn into. casual
保証書をなくしたばかりに、修理代を全額払うことになった。
hoshousho o nakushita bakari ni, shuuridai o zengaku harau koto ni natta.
All because I lost the warranty card, I ended up paying the full repair bill. neutral
気が弱いばかりに、いつも損な役を引き受けてしまう。
ki ga yowai bakari ni, itsumo son na yaku o hikiukete shimau.
Just because I'm soft, I always end up landed with the thankless job. neutral
初期設定を確認しなかったばかりに、全てのデータを失う結果となりました。
shoki settei o kakunin shinakatta bakari ni, subete no deeta o ushinau kekka to narimashita.
Purely for want of checking the initial settings, we ended up losing all the data. formal
Formation
{V-ta}ばかりにattaches to た-form{V-nai}ばかりにattaches to ない-formplain clause + ばかりにattaches to plain clause{I}ばかりにattaches to i-adjective{NA-stem}なばかりにattaches to na-adjective
Notes
of scale — a proportionate consequence wants せいで or ので instead.
Related patterns
Similar
せいで blames a cause for an unwanted outcome and takes any misfortune, the speaker's or not (雨のせいで中止になった); ばかりに names one trivial trigger and a consequence out of all proportion to it, so the sentence is a regret rather than an accusation — swap せいで in and the disproportion vanishes.
ものだから pleads a cause outside the speaker's control and asks to be let off; ばかりに asks for nothing and only registers that the price ran far past what caused it — which is why ばかりに takes a third party's misstep as readily as the speaker's own (彼が嘘をついたばかりに、みんなが迷惑した), while ものだから is always the speaker's own defence.
Lookalikes
The same たばかり string, and the に is the entire difference — たばかりだ pins TIME and says the action finished moments ago (来たばかりだ "I've only just arrived"), while たばかりに pins CAUSE and must be followed by a clause of regret (来たばかりに "all because I came").