View source for Particles (Japanese)

==Dake (だけ)==

Similar to "kara" and "made,” "dake" (pronounced "dah-keh"), indicates that what precedes it, is a precise or absolute limit. Depending on the context in which it is used, it approximates the English "just" (if the extent of the limit is not known), or "only" (if extent of the limit is small), or "enough" (if extent of the limit is large).

If you are in a convenience store and you only want three red apples, you would ask, "Akai ringo '''dake''' mittsu kudasai (red apple (only) three (do for me) please)". Likewise, if you are in a queue, and are told, "Ichi-jikan '''dake''' matte kudasai,” you are being asked to wait "just" one hour. Compare this to "hodo" (see below) - "Ichi-jikan '''hodo''' matte kudasai," means "Please wait "for up to" one hour."

{{quotebox|''In the first example above, you might have noticed the use of "mittsu" for "three", instead of "san", as in "ichi-ni-san" or "one-two-three." This is a tricky part of the language, because Japanese uses different words for numbers alone and numbers that "count" things. This is a topic for another day, but you might want to look at [[Japanese numerical system|counting in Japanese]] and [[native Japanese numbers]] at some point to familiarise yourself. Suffice to say, for now, that although there are three apples, they are also three objects, so I use the "counter" word for three objects, which is "mittsu."''}}

"Dake" is also used following the verb "dekiru" (which means "can you...") and is followed by an adverb, to add in the English equivalent of "as you can.” Thus, "Dekiru '''dake''' hayaku denwa sh''''ite kudasai." (Can you quickly telephone do for me please) means, "Please phone as soon as you can."

Similarly, it can be placed after the potential form of the verbs "~ru" (る), "~reru" (れる),  and "~rareru" (られる), to indicate a maximum degree of something, which can not be passed. The English equivalent would be "as much as..." An example would be, "Atashi '''wa''' arukeru '''dake''' arukimash''''ita desu (As for I to walk (as much as) did walk it is)," or, "I really walked as much as I could."