How to Say "Only" in Japanese

…だけ

…dake

The English word "only" can be translated into Japanese using …だけ (…dake).

…だけ is a versatile way to express the meaning "without others or anything further. Exclusively." It can be used with both nouns and verbs.

Meaning: without others or anything further, exclusively (adv)

Which one should you use?

While …だけ focuses on the quantity or limit of something, the form …のみ is a more formal way to express the same meaning of "only."

…のみ is a formal, written-style version used in academic contexts, signs or official documents.

The particle …だけ can be placed directly after a noun or a verb in its dictionary form to indicate that only that specific thing or action occurs.

…dake

The expression だけ can be used to mean 'to the extent that' or 'as much as'. For example, saying 'read だけ' can mean 'read as much as you can' instead of 'only read'.
The phrase だけ is often paired with the verb ある to create だけある, which is used to express that something is 'exactly as expected' given a certain status or quality.
The word だけ is related to the concept of 'edge' or 'limit' in older forms of the language, which is why it defines the boundary of what is included.

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