If Only… Only if….Hunh?
It is a strange fact that the position of certain words in a sentence can affect the meaning of the sentence drastically. The word only is one such word. Consider the following examples.
- Only I love her.
- I only love her.
- I love only her.
- I love her only.
Do you see the differences in meaning that arise simply from the change in the position of the word only?
- Only I love Ben. (I am the sole person who loves Ben.)
- I only love Ben. (Love is the sole emotion that I feel for Ben.)
- I love only Ben. (Ben is the sole person whom I love.)
- I love Ben only. (I love Ben, and no one else.)
The difference between the last two examples is very subtle, but it does exist. The order in which you place your words in a sentence is very important. When you write, be vigilant to test your word order to ensure that you are saying exactly what you mean, rather than introducing confusion or misunderstanding into your work. The Grammar Guru has seen many, many examples of people who made a statement with a misplaced only, and ended up with an outcome they did not expect — and sometimes it was a very undesirable outcome.