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I’ve gathered that these all can be used like “just” (right?) so I’m wondering what the difference in usage is between them.
今終わった。
終わったばかり。
終わったところ。
Are these all basically the same?
(also, in informal speech is it appropriate to just say ばかり and ところ by themselves at the end like in my examples?)
The difference between ばかり and ところ is that ばかり means you just finished, can be 1 minute ago, 1 hour ago, 1 week, it really depends on what you are talking about. ところ means this moment exactly. for example: 彼は旅行から帰ったばかりでも、また旅行する。 (Even though he just came back from his trip, he is going on another trip.) 帰ったところ、電話が鳴った。(the moment I got home the telephone rang)
The first example can mean that the guy came back from his trip a week ago and already goes on another trip where the second example really means the moment you got home.
As for 今, it just means now and can be compared to ところ, but a bit less strict with it being the exact moment.
The meaning of ところ also changes with which form of verb you use (past, present, future). Past tense means just finished doing it, present means in the midst of, and future means just about to. 話したところ(just talked) 話すところ(going to talk) 話しているところ(talking)
I hope this explanation makes sense and answered your question.
When using ところ always put だ behind it, ばかり can be with or without だ.
