Here's an exercise I used to give to my grammar and
composition students at Indiana University/Purdue University, Indianapolis .
Change the meaning of the following sentence by where you
insert the word "only."
She hit Bob in the eye.
Answers:
1. Only she hit Bob in the eye. (She was the only one who
did any hitting.)
2. She only hit Bob in the eye. (Her sister had nothing to
do with the fracas.)
3. She hit only Bob in the eye. (She didn't hit Bill, too.)
4. She hit Bob only in the eye. (She didn't hit him in the
jaw as well.)
5. She hit Bob in only the eye. (the same as the preceding)
6. She hit Bob in the only eye. (He'd had the other one
knocked out several years earlier.)
7. She hit Bob in the eye only. (the same as 4 and 5.)
What other sentences can you think of in which the placement
of a single word changes the meaning?
Do you agree with me that 4, 5, and 7 mean the same thing?
If not, why not?
Seems to me that #2 means, "She only hit Bob in the eye--she would have been justified in shooting him." Seems to me that "only" or "just" would work in a lot of sentences like this, but I can't think of any using other words.
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