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Anonymous Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

only - a conjunction or not

A book titled "A Guide to Fairs and Festivals in the United States" has the following passage:

The decision of the judges is final. Contestants need not be present, only the frogs that are jumped in their name. Winners receive trophies for first, second and third place in commercial or club, adult and junior categories. Even business groups are permitted to enter.

In the second sentence, is "only" being used as a conjunction or an adverb or an adjective? 
  

Top answer

Adverb.

— AlpheccaStars

  • Adverb.
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4 Answers
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Hi, AStars

I do not agree with your opinion of "Adverb".

If the construction includes "Adverb Only", it is not accepted grammatically ; S+V , only . (?)
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A conjunction joins two or more equivalent syntactic elements. The element after "only" is a noun phrase (the frogs...). There is only one noun phrase in the predicate, not two. Because there is only one element, it cannot be a conjunction.
This noun phrase further clarifies the subject (contestants).

Only the frogs that are jumped in their name need be present.
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AnonymousHere is another example;I'd offer to help, only (=but) I'm really busy just now.
Only is a conjunction. You have two syntactic elements - two clauses.
1) I'd offer to help
2) I'm really busy.
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