Dake and Shika: Express Only and Limits

だけ and しか can both express a limit, but their sentence patterns differ. だけ can occur with affirmative or negative predicates; the basic しか pattern requires a negative. Focus on what is limited and whether the sentence means “only this” or “not this alone.”

Formation and use

水だけ飲みます says water is the only thing drunk. 水しか飲みません gives a similar limit with a required negative predicate and can emphasise how restricted the choice is.

Do not turn 水しか飲みません into 水しか飲みます. The affirmative ending breaks the basic target pattern. With だけ, 水だけを飲みます is also possible because を can be retained.

Comparisons and common errors

Other particles may combine: 東京にだけ行きます and 東京にしか行きません. The destination relation does not disappear merely because the phrase is limited.

私は一人だけで行きます means going alone, while 私だけは行きません can single out the speaker as not going. Negative scope depends on structure and context, so drills must state the intended meaning.

Practise with explanations

Try the 10 questions below, or open the practice set. Check each answer or the whole set, read the explanation, and retry mistakes. First-attempt results are kept separately on this device.

Connected lessons

• Japanese Nai Form: Verb Negatives and Exceptions
• The Particle Wo
• ni particle