てばかりいる details
write + (and…) + does nothing but do X
kaite bakari iru
does nothing but do X (habitual excess, disapproving)
meaning: do nothing but write
彼は会議で文句を言ってばかりいる。
kare wa kaigi de monku o itte bakari iru.
In meetings, he does nothing but complain. neutral
またゲームしてばかり！たまには外で遊びなよ。
mata geemu shite bakari! tama ni wa soto de asobi na yo.
All you ever do is play games again! Go play outside once in a while. casual
- past
- polite
- negative
Examples
does nothing but do X — a habit crowds out everything else, and the speaker disapproves
彼は会議で文句を言ってばかりいる。
kare wa kaigi de monku o ittebakariiru.
In meetings, he does nothing but complain. neutral
またゲームしてばかり！たまには外で遊びなよ。
mata geemu shite bakari! tama ni wa soto de asobi na yo.
All you ever do is play games again! Go play outside once in a while. casual
入社当時は、先輩に頼ってばかりいて、お恥ずかしい限りです。
nyuusha touji wa, senpai ni tayotte bakari ite, o hazukashii kagiri desu.
When I first joined the company I am embarrassed to say I did nothing but lean on my seniors. formal
Formation
{V-te}ばかりいるattaches to て-form
Notes
てばかりいないで is a common admonishment — 文句を言ってばかりいないで
手伝って, "quit just complaining and help."
Related patterns
Similar
ている just reports an action in progress or its result; てばかりいる adds the speaker's judgment that this action crowds out everything else — 遊んでいる describes a scene, 遊んでばかりいる scolds one.
Both fault excess, but すぎる says one instance went past the proper degree (飲みすぎた — that night, too much) while てばかりいる says the act recurs to the exclusion of everything else (飲んでばかりいる) — degree versus frequency.
Lookalikes
Same ばかり, opposite clock — てばかりいる (て-form) reports a standing HABIT of excess with no end in sight, たばかり (た-form) reports a single event that JUST finished; 遊んでばかりいる and 遊んだばかりだ share four kana and mean nothing alike.
Same morpheme, different attachment — Nばかり restricts a NOUN (学生ばかりだ, "all students"), while てばかりいる attaches to a verb's te-form and criticizes a repeated HABIT (遊んでばかりいる); the shared kana invites conflating the two.