~ばかりか~（さえ）

Compound Particle/Conjunction (Intermediate ㊥ 8)

A compound particle/conjunction which is used to connect two nouns or two sentences, the first of which is something normally expected and the second of which is something normally unexpected.

Equivalent: Not only ~ but also

日本では子供ばかりか大人さえ漫画を読んでいる。
In Japan not only children but even adults are reading comic books.
あの人は絵を見て楽しむばかりか、自分でも絵を描く。
He not only enjoys looking at pictures; he also draws them.
アメリカでは大学生ばかりか、中学生、高校生さえ日本語を勉強している。
In America not only college students but even junior and senior high school students are studying Japanese.
僕の寮の部屋は狭いばかりか、窓さえないんです。
My room in the dorm is not just small; it doesn't even have a window.
トムは漢字が読めないばかりか、平仮名さえ読めない。
It's not just kanji that Tom cannot read; he cannot read even hiragana.
父は食べるのが大好きなばかりか、料理をするのも大好きです。
My father not only loves to eat, he also loves to cook.

Formation

(i) {V/ Adjective い} informal ばかりか  
  {話す/話した} ばかりか Not only does/did someone speak
  {高い/高かった} ばかりか Not only is/was something high
(ii) Adjective な stem {な/だった} ばかりか  
  {静かな/静かだった} ばかりか Not only is/was something/someone quiet
(iii) {Noun /Nounだった} ばかりか  
  {先生/先生だった} ばかりか Not only is/was someone a teacher

Notes

1. Before ばかりか comes something/someone normally expected and after ばかりか comes something/someone normally unexpected. If the order of the two is reversed an unacceptable sentence like the following results.

2. The particle さえ can be replaced by the particle も especially in spoken Japanese.

【Related Expressions】

I. The pnrases ばかりで(は)なく~も and だけで(は)なく~も are very similar to ばかりか~(さえ). Among those three constructions ばかりか~(さえ) expresses the highest degree of unexpectedness between the content of Sentence1 and Sentence2. If such unexpectedness is missing, the ばかりか~(さえ) construction sounds awkward. Examples follow.

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(⇨ だけで(は)なく~(も)㊦)

II. Sentence1 どころか Sentence2, a construction indicating that someone/something is very far from a/n (un)desirable state, is quite different from Sentence1 ばかりか Sentence2, when Sentence1 is affirmative and Sentence2 is negative or when Sentence1 is negative and Sentence2 is affirmative. Examples follow.

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If both Sentence1 and Sentence2 are affirmative or negative, the two constructions are interchangeable.

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