だけ
dake
Draw a line, erase the outside: だけ
The picture You draw a line around something and treat everything outside it as gone. Draw the line tight and it means "just this"; push it out as far as it goes and it means "as much as possible". だけ just draws the line and lets the outside go; しか rubs the outside out and leaves you staring at how little is left.
Where the picture shows up in だけ
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a line around a thing
水だけください。
mizu dake kudasai
Just water, nothing else, please.
A finger draws a ring around the water on the menu while a flat hand covers the rest of the list.
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a line around an action
見ているだけです。
mite iru dake desu
I'm not buying — just looking.
A shopper walks the aisle with both hands behind their back, letting only their eyes travel over the goods.
This is the set phrase you use when a shop assistant approaches you.
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a line around a span of time
五分だけ待ってください。
go-fun dake matte kudasai
Five minutes and no more — please wait that long.
Five minutes shaded in on a watch face, a fingertip planted upright where the shading stops.
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the line pushed out
できるだけ早く連絡します。
dekiru dake hayaku renraku shimasu
I'll get in touch as soon as I possibly can.
The line stretched out as far as an outstretched arm reaches, a fingertip resting on its far end.
Memorise できるだけ whole: here the line is pushed to its widest, not drawn tight.
All of it in one picture
Follow the one line and all four fall into a row. Cover the menu except the water and you get “just water”; keep your hands behind your back and move only your eyes and you get “just looking”; shade five minutes on the dial and you get “five minutes and no more”. できるだけ is that same line run the other way, pushed out to where your arm stops reaching. Wherever だけ turns up, a line has been drawn somewhere and everything outside it is treated as gone.