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ESL forum >
Ask for help > What īs the difference?
What īs the difference?
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ule4ka_84
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What īs the difference?
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Dear colleagues!
Could you
please help me with the next sentenceJ. Which variant is correct?
I ONLY saw
Mary at the party. I didn㦙 see anyone else.
Or I saw ONLY Mary
at the party. I didn㦙 see anyone else.
If they are
both correct, then could you please explain the difference. If the second is
not correct then why? Headway workbook
gives the first as a key variant. But I can㦙 explain why the second one is not
possible�Thanks a lot!
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5 Dec 2012
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ascincoquinas
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Hi There! General rule: Subject + adverb + verb .... I only saw Mary at the party. Subject + verb to be + adverb ..... I am only waiting for Mary. |
5 Dec 2012
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IonMincu
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The first option leaves the implication that there MIGHT have been other people at the party, you simply didn īt see them.
The second option indicates that just you and Mary were in attendance at this party. No one else ever existed at the party. |
5 Dec 2012
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mohamedthabet
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only modifies the word that follows it. So if I say: "I only saw Mary," the restriction is on the action, I mean I saw Mary but didn īt for example talk to her or dance with her, or whatever else we might do.
If I say: "I saw only Mary," this means I saw nobody but Mary.
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5 Dec 2012
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cunliffe
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mohamedthabet is absolutely correct, however people will not obey the rule! |
5 Dec 2012
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yanogator
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Yes, there īs a major tendency for people to put the adverb first when speaking, no matter what their indended meaning is. So, both are correct, and in everyday usage, they can mean the same thing, or different things. Bruce |
5 Dec 2012
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jannabanna
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I think : "I only saw Mary" could imply that I was looking for other people too, but in fact I only saw Mary. But perhaps I īm making my own films again !!! "I saw only Mary" - as a native speaker - this seems quite rare to me, at least in spoken English. |
5 Dec 2012
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ule4ka_84
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Thank you all very much!!
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6 Dec 2012
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