Hello,
Alan’s letter to Mr. Kyaw was very surprising for me. He wrote: " You could make life easier for yourself if noted that adverb ONLY with its meaning “exclusively” refers to the word which immediately precedes."
Of course I could make life easier for myself and it is high time that I saw cleary what can be ONLY in a sentence. Can be adjective, adverb,conjunction + there are some idioms with it.
ADJECTIVE
= means no other or others of the same group.
-She is their only daughter.
-We were the only people there.
-His only answer was a grunt.
ADVERB
1.
= in form of ONLY or ONLY IF and it 's a clause, can be FIRST in the sentence. Help: when we begin with only in the second part of the sentence,BE,DO,HAVE etc.come before the subject and the main part of the word.
-Only in Paris DO you find bars like this.
-Only if there conditions are fufilled CAN the application proceed to the next stage.
2.we say about sb/ sth is the best.
-She is the only person for the job.
3.no more important, interesting, serious etc. than this.
- It was only a suggestion.
-Don’t blame me , I’m only the messenger!
- He was only teasing you.
4.=no more than; no longer than
-She is only 21 and she runs her business.
-It only took few seconds.
5.= not until
-We only got here yesterday.
-(formal) Only then did she realize the stress he was under.
6.used to say that sb can do more than it is mentioned, although this is probably not enough:
-We CAN only guess what happened.
-He COULD only watch helplessly as the car plunged into the ravine.
-I ONLY HOPE that she never finds out.
7.we say that sth will have a bad effect:
-If you do that, it will only make matters worse.
-Trying to reason with him only enrages him even more.
- ONLY TO DO STH= used to mention sth immediately afterwords, especially sth that causes surprise, disappointment etc.
-She turned up the driveway, only to find her way blocked.
CONJUNCTION
=expect that; but
-I’d love to come, only I have to work.
-It tastes like a chicken, only stronger.
IDIOMS
1.THE ONLY THING IS…= used before mention a worry or a problem you have with sth.
-I’d love to come - the only thing is I might be late.
2. IN NAME ONLY =officially recognized but not existing in reality
-He is party leader in name only.
3.ONE AND ONLY…= used emphasize that sb. Is famous
-Here he is, there one and only Jack Harrison.
4.NOT ONLY…BUT (ALSO)= both…and
-He only read the book, but also remembered what he had read.
5.ONLY JUST=
a.)=not long ago/before
-We’ve only just arrived.
b.) almost not
-He only just caught the train.
-I can only afford it, but only just.
6. ONLY TOO =…very
-I was only too pleased to help.
-children cab be difficult as we know only to well.
7.YOU’RE ONLY YOUNG ONCE (saying) = young people should enjoy themselves as much as possible because they will have to work and worry in their lives
8.ONLY HAVE EYES FOR/HAVE EYES ONLY FOR SB. = to be in love with only one particular person.
-He has only ever had eyes for his wife.
Kati S.