5. They're 'Only' Wandering Adverbs...
So there is this little problem that can happen with using the word "only" in a sentence. The problem is that depending on where it is in the sentence it can change the whole meaning of the sentence. Naturally, confusion follows.
Only the text message caused the hurt feelings. (Nothing else caused the hurt feelings.)
The text message only caused the hurt feelings. (It didn't spoil the day.)
The text message caused only the hurt feelings. (It didn't cause anything else.)
The text message caused the only hurt feelings. (There were no other feelings hurt other than the ones hurt by the text message.)
Technically each sentence above is grammatically correct, and each has a different meaning. The problem is that the meanings can be confused very easily.
When you are speaking the tone of your voice conveys exactly what you mean regardless of where the "only" is. Therefore in conversation, it doesn't matter if "only" is in the "wrong" position. Indeed, the correct version often sounds klunky when you say it aloud.
The problem is when the same sentence is written, the position of the "only" does matter since there is no tone of voice on the page. But, when people do read it often times they imagine a tone of voice in their mind which can override the grammatical meaning of the sentence.
Unfortunately, you get no special grammar award for using the right grammar if people continue to misunderstand it. If you have any doubt at all, just use the following easy fix:
9 times out of 10 you can simply remove the word "only" from the sentence. The meaning will still be clear and you don't have to spend time agonizing over it.
The text message caused the hurt feelings.
Other wandering adverbs can also be difficult, e.g. "just", "still" and "even". Again, the simplest solution is to remove the word from the sentence.
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