The Grammar of "only"

 How to use "only" and why it's versatile?

The "only" game

Versatile means "adaptable and flexible", which means it can be used in different roles :

1- Only as "an adverb":

👉 It can be replaced with "just"

• It's only an idea.
• This phone is only available in Japan.
• She was only 18 when she had her first child.
• Only a few hundred houses survived the hurricane without any damage.
• I only hope we can finish this on time.

2- Only as "an adjective":

👉 As an adjective, it comes before the noun.

• This is the only letter my father ever wrote to me.
• He was the only person in the room.
• I was an only child.
• Being healthy is the only thing that is important to me.
• You are the only person who can help me.
• Is that your only copy of the book?
• He was the only one who could read in the village.
• That was the only large t-shirt left in that color.
• There were only four United fans in the room.
• Not: He was the only who could read …  ❌

3- Only as  "a conjunction":

👉 It can be replaced with "but"

• Fiction is like real life, only better.
• You can come, only make sure you’re on time.
• Her car is like mine, only it has four doors.

4- Only means "the best":

• Flying is the only way to travel.
• In my opinion, he is the only man for the job.

5- Only means "disappointing/unpleasant":

👉 When followed by an infinitive. * infinitive means "original verb".

• I opened the box, only to discover that some of the parts were missing.
• We arrived at the pub, only to find it was closed.

6- Only can mean "simply":

• He is only joking.

The position of Only:

Only helps you focus on a certain part of the sentence. It's like a flashlight 🔦 or a magnifier 🔎 . "Only" comes before the part that you want to focus on.

Let's play this game:

Place the word "only" anywhere in the sentence and see the new meaning:

She told him that she loved him.

➤ Only  🔦 she told him that. ➨ She is the only person to tell him that.

➤ She only 🔦 told him that she loved him. ➨ She said only that. She said nothing else.

➤ She told only 🔦 him that she loved him. ➨ She that that to no one else, only him.

➤ She told him only 🔦 that she loved him. ➨ She said she loved him, and nothing more.

➤ She told him that only 🔦 she loved him. ➨ She said that she is the only one who loves him, and no one else.

➤ She told him that she only 🔦 loved him.➨  She said that she only loved him and nothing more. Here, "only" can mean "simply" or "just".

➤ She told him that she loved only 🔦 him. She loved no one else but him.

👀We built that blog because we want to empower you.

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