• Other meanings: just finished; something just occurred

• Can be used to convey something just ended, something just started, etc.

• The important thing to remember is that this structure conveys that not much time has passed since action V was done.

Conjugation

You only use the past tense of the verb, as the action has already happened.

• When using ばかりのＮ, you are describing a situation or place or other noun where you just began doing ~.

• For example: 日本語を習い始めたばかりの頃 means “the time when I just began learning Japanese.”

  • If you got rid of the の頃, the meaning would change to “I just began learning Japanese.”

Examples

日本語を習い始めたばかりの頃は、簡単なあいさつさえできなかった。

When I first started learning Japanese, I couldn’t even do a simple greeting.

今、始まったばかりです。

It just started now.