So what’s the difference? Both phrases have a negative connotation and both can be used to say there are (too) many of something.

The most important distinction is that だらけ refers to something is covered in many individual things, whereas ばかり suggests only one from many possibilities.

怪我して体が傷だらけだった。
To have an accident and be covered in bruises.

怪我して体が傷ばかりだった。
(Sounds unnatural—what else could you be covered in after an accident?).

You May Also Like

Expressing “Want” in Japanese (~たい)

To express the desire “to want” we take the stem of the verb (i.e. the present polite form…

Because (から, ので)

We have already seen one way to express a reason or cause by using the te form. 電車でんしゃが遅おくれて、会社かいしゃに遅刻ちこくしました。…

Japanese Grammar, Vocabulary, Kanji Quizzes

There are two types of quizzes below: (1) multiple choice and (2) free-form answers which require you to…

Listing Actions & Descriptions (~たり)

We can make partial lists nouns with the や and など particles, but what about verbs? Similarly to…