Page 521 - Makino,Tsutusi.DictionaryOfIntermediateJGrammar

tada 447
(c) j:jf+filflfOZkT~~B~k:~j:tv~.fd.,
(Did you fire him only for that reason?)
(d) f:~f&mt:~ ktf~f~e~~ba~%ggi;t.cba~
(There will be no progress if you do only what you are told to do.)
2
2
(el *~i~jz~E3fitz~ LT~~ZI~I~~Z~
(I am just doing what I was asked to do; that's all.)
st:
(f) &O%i27?7?3 CkbjZkbaj Elf jz0
(He is just serious; he has no other merit.)
(g) %i:X~fi&&i2~~atv~~jtr', wftj 2 kh~~-caj:~~fitv~-~~
(It doesn't have any special meaning, but I just wanted to ask.)
SbLh Iig+j
ficvo
(h) t:r.%wj z 2 ~k$bw: L-c~~-c~L~EIw~~&~
(If you simply swallow what other people say, you won't come up with
any interesting ideas.)

1. Tada is a device to emphasize such ideas as "only," "just," and "simply."
As a matter of fact, a sentence with tada and one without tada mean the
same thing unless tada is followed by One + Counter no Noun (e.g.,
hito-ri no otoko 'a man,' ichi-dai no kuruma 'a car'). For example, the
two sentences in (1) and (2) are semantically equivalent. The addition of
tada however, makes the (a) sentences more emphatic.

When tada is followed by One + Counter no Noun, the meaning
changes, as in [3].
2
(3) a. %EOkt~-7013r;,~i2@Bw'1G:~L-~Ifkb~~ Ifo
Z
(=KS(A))
(His only (one) defect is that he is not punctual.)