Solely / Merely / Barely / Uniquely
I'm an English teacher, and a couple of days ago, on trying to explain something to my students, I wasn't able to come up with something convincing. The exercise we were doing is this:
"We no longer have to rely _____________ on people reporting how they feel about each other".
A) solely B) merely C) barely D) uniquely
I explained that "barely" means, more or less, "almost not", and that "uniquely" involves something special or extraordinary. But I'm completely unable to tell what the right answer is "solely" and not "merely".
Would you please help me? Thanks!
Top answer
solely This is the only thing we rely on. merely Like 'solely', but adds the idea that this is not a very useful or important thing to rely on.
- solely This is the only thing we rely on.
- merely Like 'solely', but adds the idea that this is not a very useful or important thing to rely on.
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solely This is the only thing we rely on.
merely Like 'solely', but adds the idea that this is not a very useful or important thing to rely on.
0Hello Clive,
Thanks a lot for your answer. I don't know whether I'm answering to my own message or yours... It looks like the former, but I haven't found any other way to do so. I've indicated I like your answer; is there anything else I can do to show I think it's the right answer to my question?
Thank you!
0
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