Grammar › Emphasis & Exclusivity
〜しか〜ない — “nothing but, only” (emphatic)
A stronger, more emphatic “only”: 千円しかありません — I only have 1,000 yen (and that's a problem)
しか always pairs with a negative verb at the end of the sentence, and together they mean “only” with a stronger, often slightly regretful nuance than だけ — “nothing but X” rather than だけ's plain, neutral “just X.”
How to form it
| Pattern | Example |
|---|---|
| Noun + しか + negative verb | 水しか飲みませんでした — I drank nothing but water |
Example sentences
| Japanese | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 財布に千円しかありません。 | さいふにせんえんしかありません。 saifunisenenshikaarimasen。 | I only have 1,000 yen in my wallet (and it's not enough). |
| 彼は野菜しか食べない。 | かれはやさいしかたべない。 karehayasaishikatabenai。 | He eats nothing but vegetables. |
| この漢字は一つしか読めません。 | このかんじはひとつしかよめません。 konokanjihahitotsushikayomemasen。 | I can only read one of these kanji. |
🔊 Tap any Japanese sentence to hear it; kanji link to their study pages.
Watch out
Forgetting the negative verb at the end is the single most common mistake — しかあります (positive) is ungrammatical; it must always be しかありません.