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Angliholic Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

Jake only received positive comments from his teacher.

Jake only received positive comments from his teacher.

Jake received only positive comments from his teacher.

Jake only got positive comments from his teacher.

Do all of the above convey a similar concept to you? Thanks.
  

Top answer

=> (same as the first sentence, but got is a little bit more informal than received ) I prefer the second sentence if you want to emphasize the fact that the comments were exclusively positive.

— Yankee

  • => (same as the first sentence, but got is a little bit more informal than received ) I prefer the second sentence if you want to emphasize the fact that the comments were exclusively positive.
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7 Answers
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Hi Angliholic

Jake only received positive comments from his teacher.=> only modifes received

Jake received only positive comments from his teacher.=> only modifies and stresses positive comments

Jake only got positive comments from his teacher.=> (
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Thanks, Amy.

I couldn't agree with you more.
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I always try to place 'only' just as carefully as I would any other modifier.
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Hi,

You might also like to consider these placements.

Only Jake received positive comments from his teacher. 'Only' modifies 'Jake'. No other students got positive comments.

Jake received positive comments from his only teacher. 'Only' modifies 'teacher'. Jake does not have more than one teacher.

Best wishes, Clive
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CliveHi,

You might also like to consider these placements.

Only Jake received positive comments from his teacher. 'Only' modifies 'Jake'. No other students got positive comments.

Jake received positive comments from his only teacher. 'Only' modifies 'teacher'. Jake does not have more than one teacher.

Best wishes, Clive
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Ooh ooh! One more: Jack received positive comments only from his teacher. His teacher is the only person who said nice things.
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Grammar GeekOoh ooh! One more: Jack received positive comments only from his teacher. His teacher is the only person who said nice things.
Thanks, GG.

Gotcha!
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