Today’s Grammar Point: ～ばかりでなく…も

Today’s grammar point is ～ばかりでなく…も, which means “not only ～ but also ….” It is basically the same as “～だけでなく…も” but ばかりでなく sounds more formal and is more often used in writing while だけでなく sounds a lot more casual and is more often used in conversations.

I think the most difficult part in using this pattern is to decide where to put the particle も in the second part of the sentence. See the examples below and examine why も is placed there.

Connection

• [noun] (+ である/だった) + ばかりでなく …も
• [plain form verb] + ばかりでなく …も
• [plain form いadjective stem] + い/かった + ばかりでなく …も
• [なadjective] な/だった + ばかりでなく …も

Examples

寿司すしばかりでなく、刺身さしみもたくさん注文ちゅうもんした。
I ordered not only sushi but also a lot of sashimi.

田中たなかさんは英語えいごばかりでなく、中国語ちゅうごくごも上手じょうずです。
Mr. Tanaka is good at not only English but also Chinese.

田中たなかさんは英語えいごを話はなすばかりでなく、 中国語ちゅうごくごも話はなします。
Mr. Tanaka not only speaks English, but also Chinese.

田中たなかさんは英語えいごを理解りかいするばかりでなく、スラスラ話はなすこともできます。
Mr. Tanaka can not only understand English but also speak fluently.

田中たなかさんは英語えいごでスピーチをしたばかりなく、 中国語ちゅうごくごでも質疑応答しつぎおうとうしていました。
Mr. Tanaka not only gave a speech in English, but also had a question and answer session in Chinese.

あの寿司すし屋やはおいしいばかりでなく、値段ねだんも手てごろだ。
Not only is that sushi restaurant delicious, it’s also reasonably priced.

あのお寿司すしはおいしかったばかりでなく、見栄みばえも素晴すばららしかったです。
Not only was that sushi delicious, it also looked great.

田中たなかさんはスポーツが得意とくいなばかりでなく、頭あたまの回転かいてんも速はやいです。
Not only is Mr. Tanaka good at sports, he also has a quick mind.

田中たなかさんは英語えいご教師きょうしばかりでなく、通訳つうやくとしても働はたらいています。
Mr. Tanaka works not only as an English teacher but also as an interpreter.

田中たなかさんは英語えいご教師きょうしだったばかりでなく、英語えいごの通訳つうやくとしても働はたらきました。
Not only was Mr. Tanaka an English teacher, he also worked as an English interpreter.

Please visit my JLPT N3 Grammar page for more JLPT N3 grammar item.

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