ONLY, ONLY, ONLY: So many meanings!

Just when you thought English couldn’t get worse, we introduce “only” to ruin your day... and possibly destroy Bob’s life! You won’t believe what happens when you move “only” around in a sentence. It’s like a game of emotional chess for poor Bob. In this lesson, you’ll discover how one tiny word can change the meaning of everything! From heartbreaking friend zones to “secret” crushes, this word’s got it all. Prepare for a wild ride of confusing English grammar! Sorry, Bob! https://www.engvid.com/only-only-only-so-many-meanings/ Sign up for private tutoring on my website: https://englishwithronnie.com More grammar lessons: How to talk about people & events in the past https://youtu.be/qL4IC3GXCUQ English Grammar: Fix your double negatives! https://youtu.be/cqcEEFiZFfU In this lesson: 0:00 Where to put "only" in a sentence 0:49 Only she told Bob that she liked him. 1:20 She only told Bob that she liked him. 2:12 She told only Bob that she liked him. 2:53 She told Bob only that she liked him. 3:30 She told Bob that only she liked him. 4:06 She told Bob that she only liked him. 5:48 She told Bob that she liked only him. 6:04 She told Bob that she liked him only. TRANSCRIPT Hi. It's only Ronnie giving you this lesson. That's it. Just me. This lesson is hard for me to explain to you, and I'm sure you just get, like, "What?" Really confused with this... Without my lesson. So, the focus today is on the word "only". So, bear with me here. We can put "only" in between, and at the beginning, and at the end of each of these words, but the meaning of the sentence changes. So, the first one, "Only she told Bob that she liked him." If I put "only" at the beginning of the sentence, this is going to emphasize the fact that nobody else gave Bob information; only she gave Bob the information. She was the only person that spoke to Bob, so only she did it. Okay. We've got the first one down. The next one. If we put "only" before "told", we say, "She only told Bob that she liked him." This has two meanings. It can mean the first... The same as the first one. She only told Bob that she liked him. Nobody else has this information. Okay? Nobody else gave Bob the information. The second meaning is this is the only information that Bob got. So, she only told Bob what? She only told Bob that she liked him. She didn't tell Bob any extra information. And Bob's like, "Uh-uh." And? She's like, "No, that's it. That's it. That's it. That's it. It's just that. Nothing else, Bob." Okay? Okay? If we put "only" here, "She told only Bob that she liked him." This means she didn't tell anyone else. It's a secret. Okay? Let's write that down. It's important. So, this is a big secret, except I don't know how to spell "secret". No. S-E... Can you help me out? S-E-C-R-E-T. Good. Yes, we did it. Okay. So, it's a secret. She only told Bob. She didn't tell anyone else. The next one, "She told Bob only that she liked him." This one is the same as this one. So, she didn't tell Bob more information. These guys are the same. So, if we say, "She only told Bob that she liked him" or "She told Bob only that she liked him", Bob is just like, "Oh, you like me?" Ends? No. Nothing else. That's it. That's all you get, Bob. Ask some questions, Bob. See what your answer is. Next one. If we put here, "She told Bob that only she liked him", uh-oh, hmm, Bob's kind of a bit of a loser because no one else likes Bob. Okay? This girl is the only girl that likes Bob, so she's like, "Bob, I'm the only girl that likes you. This is your... It's just me. You got it. It's your choice." Poor Bob. So, now we get to another tricky one, and this is, "What is going on here, Ronnie?" I give up. She told Bob that she only liked him. If I emphasize the word "liked" here, it means that she doesn't love him, she doesn't hate him, she just... She just doesn't love him. She kind of likes him. So, in slang, we say, like, "Bob's in the friend zone." Okay? If you're in the friend zone, right here, friend zone, it means that this girl, yeah, she's not going to be your girlfriend; she will be your friend. And that's cool sometimes, too. Bob, don't worry about it. But... Oops, I'm just kicking things. So, if I said, "She told Bob that she only liked him." I only like you; I don't love you. But if I put the emphasis on "him", like this, "She told Bob that she only liked him", that changes the meaning to a very positive meaning. English is so confusing. Saying that she doesn't like anyone else, only Bob. So, be careful on the emphasis. Okay? So, one more time. "She told Bob that she only liked him." I don't love you, Bob; I just like you. Bad for Bob. "She told Bob that she only liked him." Good for Bob. Bob's in there. Mm-hmm. All right. So, these two, these three can have the same meaning as well. "Bob, you're a lucky guy. She told Bob that she liked only him." I could be a little psycho at the same time. […]