Lesson 106: しか...ない Shika...nai

SummaryIn this lesson we cover a very useful grammatical construction used in everyday Japanese conversation, しか...ない. It means only, as in I only have a

1000 yen now. It can also be used to talk about only one course of action that is available as in 待つしかない - matsu shika nai - The only thing we can do is

now. Here is how it is constructed:

Object +shika negative verb千円 しか ないsen en shika nai(I only have 1000 yen)

Vocabulary list in order of appearance in podcast

Japanese Pronunciation English meaningお金 okane moneyマジで？ majide really? Are you kidding?腹減った hara hetta hungry日本語できる nihongo dekiru be able to speak (do)

Japanese入学試験 nyuugaku shiken entrance exam for school

or university結果 kekka resultsめんどくさい mendokusai a hassle財布 saifu wallet

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Now let’s look at some examples using shika nai as featured in the podcast:

Conversation 01a) お金どれぐらいある？ okane dore gurai aru

b) 千円しかないよ sen en shika nai yo

a) マジで？！ maji de

a) About how much money do you have?b) I only have about 1000 yen a) Really? (Are you kidding me?)

Conversation 02a)　どうしたの？腹減った？b)　そうなのー、今日リンゴ一個しかたべてないからね。

a) doushita no. Hara hettab) sou na no, kyou ringo iko shika tabetenai

a) What happened? Are you hungry?b) Yes, because today I only ate one apple.

Conversation 03a) ね、英語できる？b) いや、日本語しかできない

a) ne, eigo dekirub) iya, nihongo shika dekinai

a) Hey, can you speak English?b) no, I can only speak Japanese

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The following dialogs use しかない in terms of expressing the idea that there

is only one course of action open to you. For example:

ex.1a) 入学試験の結果分かる？b) まだまだ。待つしかないね。

a) nyuugaku shiken no kekka wakarub) mada mada matsu shika nai ne

a) Do you know the results of your (school / university) entrance exam?b) Not yet. The only thing I can do is wait.

ex.2a) この仕事本当にめんどくさいb) そうだけどさー、やるしかないよ

a) kono shigoto hontou ni mendokusaib) sou dakedo sa, yaru shika nai yo

a) This work is a real hassleb) That’s true but you have no other option but to do

ex.3a) 彼女をデートに誘おうかなb) 頑張れ！誘うなら今しかないよ

a) kanojo wo deeto ni sasoou kana b) gambare. sasaou shika nai yo

a) I was thinking of asking her out on a date. b) Do it (lit. try your best). The only thing you can do is ask her out.

Extra vocabularyIn the podcast, Asuka mentioned the following phrase:

お財布と相談してみるよosaifu to soudan shite miru yo

This literally means “I need to have a talk with my wallet” but actually means “I have to check my finances” or “Let me see if I can afford it”.

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