Grammar › Quantity › 〜しか〜ない
〜しか〜ない
"Only" — but with a catch. しか demands a negative verb, and it quietly adds "…and that's not much" where だけ stays neutral.
The short version
Put しか after the thing you're limiting, and end the sentence with a negative verb. The double structure — "only X … not" — comes out in English as a single positive "only X". It replaces particles like は/が/を.
水しか飲まない。 — (I) only drink water
一つしか無い。 — there's only one
The negative is not optional. しか cannot appear with a positive verb. You must close with ない／ありません／いない, even though the English is positive.
しか … ない — "only", with nothing to spare
The most common shape is with ある／いる → ない, counting how little there is.
席が6個しかないですね。
There are only six seats. (だけ would be neutral; しか implies "so few")
1時間しかありません。
There's only one hour. (polite negative ありません)
しか with any verb
It's not just ある／いる — any verb works, as long as it's negative. The sense is "X and nothing else".
夏しか食べれないイメージ。
The image of something you can only eat in summer. (しか + 食べれない)
時速30キロしか走りません。
It only goes 30 km/h. (しか + 走りません)
Watch out — しか vs だけ
🗣 だけ is neutral; しか colours it "that's all". 一つだけある and 一つしかない both mean "there's only one" — but だけ just states the fact, while しか adds a "not enough / that's it" feeling. Use だけ to be matter-of-fact, しか to hint it's not much.
| Verb | Nuance | |
|---|---|---|
| だけ | positive → 一つだけある | neutral "only one" |
| しか | negative → 一つしかない | "only one" + not enough |
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