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Formation: V-plain / i-adj plain + ばかりに; na-adj + な／である + ばかりに; N + である + ばかりに; V-たい + ばかりに

〜ばかりに blames one particular cause, often a small one, for an unwanted result, and it carries regret, frustration or self-reproach. The main clause describes a bad outcome that has already happened (usually past tense), so it cannot express the speaker's will, a request or a hope. With V-たい (会いたいばかりに) it means "wanting X so badly that…", and the person does something extreme or costly to get it. Compare 〜せいで: it states blame neutrally, while ばかりに stresses "if only it weren't for this one thing". Compare 〜あまり: it says a feeling was too strong, while ばかりに says a single cause was enough. 〜だけに can lead to good or bad results.

Variants: 〜たいばかりに

Examples

• 私が余計なことを言ったばかりに、二人はけんかになった。
  Just because I said something I shouldn't have, the two of them ended up fighting.
• 彼は学歴がないばかりに、昇進で不利な扱いを受けた。
  Simply because he had no degree, he was at a disadvantage when it came to promotion.
• 子どもに会いたいばかりに、彼は無理をして帰国した。
  He wanted to see his child so badly that he pushed himself to fly home.

In real texts 0 occurrence(s)

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