Do you know how to use だけ and しかない? Many of my students ask me how to distinguish between them.
When you open the fridge and find only one egg, what do you say?
冷蔵庫をあけると、たまごが１つしかなかった。
(When I opened the fridge, there was only one egg.)
Most Japanese speakers would use the expression １つしかなかった. It conveys a feeling that there is ONLY one egg in the fridge, often implying sadness or disappointment.
Let’s think about it differently.
冷蔵庫に何かある？ (Is there anything in the fridge?)
たまごが一つだけあるよ。 (There’s only one egg.)
This sentence using 一つだけあるよ doesn’t carry any sad feeling.
Both だけある and しかない mean “only,” but the nuances in their usage are different. Let’s look at some example sentences.
Example 1
A: さいふにいくら入ってる？ (How much is in your wallet?)
B: １０００円だけあるよ。 (I have only ¥1000.)
A: えっ？１０００円しかないの？ (What? Do you have only ¥1000?)
Example 2
A: どんなバンドが好き？ (What band do you like?)
B: Green Dayが好きなの。 (I love Green Day.)
A: どんなアルバム持ってる？ (What albums do you have?)
B: American Idiotだけ持ってる。 (I only have American Idiot.)
A: えっ？１枚しか持っていないの？ (What? You have only American Idiot, don’t you?)
Do you understand how to use them properly?
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