Grammar Workshop: If Only I Knew

by Jennie Ruby

The word only is often misplaced. It sounds natural almost anywhere in the sentence, but for the meaning of the sentence to be clear, only should be placed as close as possible to what it modifies.

The word only can be used as an adverb or as an adjective and usually precedes the word it is modifying. Some other words that are often misplaced are almost, just and merely.

• I only have $5 –Careless
• I have only $5 –Clear
• I only am testing the chemical. –Careless
• Only I am testing the chemical. –Clear
• I am only testing the chemical. –Clear

About the Author: Jennie Ruby is a veteran IconLogic trainer and author with titles such as "Essentials of Access 2000" and "Editing with MS Word 2003 and Adobe Acrobat 7" to her credit. Jennie specializes in electronic editing. At the American Psychological Association, she was manager of electronic publishing and manager of technical editing and journal production. Jennie has an M.A. from George Washington University and is a Certified Technical Trainer (Chauncey Group). She is a publishing professional with 20 years of experience in writing, editing and desktop publishing.

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