How ‘Only’ May Change your Sentence

(270 words, about 3 minutes reading time)

James J Kilpatrick, an ultra-conservative, a fiery supporter of racial segregation and a strong voice against the Civil Rights Movement is an unusual columnist to be remembered. Only for his skill of being a grammarian, I read a few of his columns, and amply use the tips as a reviewer of the documents. The column on long sentences made a mark, and the one about usage of ‘the’ rang a bell.

But what stuck with me was a usage of ‘only’ and how it can change your sentence. So here goes the example.

A simple English sentence - Jack hit John in the nose.

Check how the meaning changes by placing an ‘only’ in the sentence. As the ‘only’ moves from left to right, the meaning differs every time.

Only Jack hit John in the nose.

May be there were other people in the room. But none hit John, except for Jack. Or maybe others slapped, or kicked, but not hit. Or maybe others hit him in the ear, jaw, back or stomach, but not nose.

Jack only hit John in the nose.

May be, Jack also carried a revolver, or a machete, but he did not use that. A full force of the fist landing on John’s nose was enough.

Jack hit only John in the nose.

Jack may have spared Jason, Jerald, Jeremy – only John was subject of his angst.

Jack hit John only in the nose.

Jack was so focused, that other body parts didn’t matter. A bloody nose was sufficient!

The trick? Place ‘only’ as close to the subject, on which it is acting, as possible.