ONLY, ONLY, ONLY: So many meanings!

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.

Means she doesn't like anyone else, only you, Bob.

It's all on you.

"She told Bob that she liked him only."

Okay.

We don't know if this is a romantic partnership

or they're just friends or mates, but Bob,

you're in for some trouble with this lady.

She doesn't like anyone else.

She only likes you, or she kind of only just likes you.

So, English, the word "only", we fight about it.

"Oh, if we put it here, it's this; if we put it here, it's this."

I hope that this lesson kind of irons out or clears out some questions that you have.

I'm going to go over here and just only give

you the opportunity to absorb this and look

at the board, take notes.

I'm only over here.

I'm over here only.

Only am I over here.