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QT
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 4:30 pm
Post subject: Correct position of 'only' |
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1, '...the total volume amounted to only 44.3 billion...'
2, '...the total volume only amounted to 44.3 billion ...'
Which is the correct useage if one wants to imply that the total volume
was less than usual or less than expected?
Thanks.
qt
--
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Mike Lyle
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 7:04 pm
Post subject: Re: Correct position of 'only' |
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QT wrote:
| Quote: | 1, '...the total volume amounted to only 44.3 billion...'
2, '...the total volume only amounted to 44.3 billion ...'
Which is the correct useage if one wants to imply that the total
volume was less than usual or less than expected?
Thanks.
qt
|
(1) is the better in formal style. But in this case there's no
ambiguity in (2).
--
Mike. |
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Don Phillipson
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2005 5:28 am
Post subject: Re: Correct position of 'only' |
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| Quote: | QT wrote:
1, '...the total volume amounted to only 44.3 billion...'
2, '...the total volume only amounted to 44.3 billion ...'
Which is the correct useage if one wants to imply that the total
volume was less than usual or less than expected?
|
"Mike Lyle" <mike_lyle_uk@REMOVETHISyahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:3te6vfFs967oU1@individual.net...
| Quote: | (1) is the better in formal style. But in this case there's no
ambiguity in (2).
|
Be warned that English makes no distinction of correct/
incorrect in the placement of "only" (and similar words of
emphasis.) The general rules are:
A: Word order determines meaning: but English is so
flexible that several word orders may have the same
meaning.
B: Any adverb or adjective modifies the word(s) nearest
it. This leaves us free to put "only" almost anywhere,
according to which other word we want to stress: and
the best location in oral English (speech) may not be
the best in written English.
--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)
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Guest
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| Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 3:57 am
Post subject: Re: Correct position of 'only' |
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"Only" can modify verbs or nouns. It can go anywhere in a sentence.
Unfortunately, many people never put it anywhere other than right
before the verb, no matter what it is modifying.
This has been going on for a very long time; Bernstein suggested asking
where to put "only" in "I hit him in the eye yesterday." At least six
spots are possible, giving six different meanings! But most people
would put it between "I" and "hit."
QT, use the first one!
Cece |
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