Only Had, Had Only
2024-07-06
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1Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we answer a question from Madhur about the usage of "had only" and "only had" in English.
2Hi,
3I would like to clear my concept regarding usage of "had only" and "only had" in written English.
4Thank you for writing, Madhur. I'm happy to answer this question.
5In general, differences in meaning between "had only" and "only had" depend on the situation.
6And in many cases, there is no difference in meaning between the two.
7In spoken English, the tone of voice we use helps make the meaning clear.
8But without the help of the voice, a writer must write carefully to avoid confusion about "had only" and "only had."
9Let's look at the usage of these terms with the following three cases.
10Case One: the same sentence, two meanings
11Consider two situations.
12In the first, you wanted to give something to drink to five people, but you only had enough to give two people drinks.
13In this situation, the sentence "I only had two drinks" means you did not have enough drinks for five people.
14It expresses the idea that there was a problem.
15In the second situation, someone said you drank too much alcohol at a party, but you disagreed.
16So, you said:
17"I only had two drinks."
18In this case, you have expressed the idea that there was not a problem with how much you drank.
19So, the same sentence, "I only had two drinks," can express a problem or the lack of a problem.
20The sentence "I only had two drinks", by itself, without any situation connected to it, is ambiguous.
21Ambiguous means that something is unclear because it can be understood in more than one way.
22Case two: two different sentences, same meaning.
23Consider these two sentences:
24"We had only one liter of water."
25"We only had one liter of water."
26Each sentence can mean that there is a problem, that we needed more than one liter.
27In general, when the adverb "only" follows the verb "had," the adverb is closer to the object of the sentence and helps show that there is, or might be, a problem.
28Case three: two sentences, different meanings
29The sentence "We had only one liter of water" usually means that we wanted or needed more water.
30On the other hand, "We only had one liter of water," might mean that there is no problem.
31For example, if there were 50 liters of water, drinking one liter would usually not be a problem.
32The examples from all of the above cases help us see how important it is to explain the situation.
33That is because "only had" can have two meanings, depending on the situation.
34Last, there is another use of "had only" which comes from conditional statements such as the following:
35"If I had only been there sooner, I could have seen her."
36Here, the use of "had only" following the word "if" expresses regret.
37We hope this explanation helps you, Madhur.
38Do you have a question about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com.
39And that's Ask a Teacher.
40I'm Andrew Smith.
1Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we answer a question from Madhur about the usage of "had only" and "only had" in English. 2Question 3Hi, 4I would like to clear my concept regarding usage of "had only" and "only had" in written English. 5Answer 6Thank you for writing, Madhur. I'm happy to answer this question. 7In general, differences in meaning between "had only" and "only had" depend on the situation. And in many cases, there is no difference in meaning between the two. 8In spoken English, the tone of voice we use helps make the meaning clear. But without the help of the voice, a writer must write carefully to avoid confusion about "had only" and "only had." 9Let's look at the usage of these terms with the following three cases. 10Case One: the same sentence, two meanings 11Consider two situations. In the first, you wanted to give something to drink to five people, but you only had enough to give two people drinks. 12In this situation, the sentence "I only had two drinks" means you did not have enough drinks for five people. It expresses the idea that there was a problem. 13In the second situation, someone said you drank too much alcohol at a party, but you disagreed. So, you said: 14"I only had two drinks." 15In this case, you have expressed the idea that there was not a problem with how much you drank. 16So, the same sentence, "I only had two drinks," can express a problem or the lack of a problem. 17The sentence "I only had two drinks", by itself, without any situation connected to it, is ambiguous. Ambiguous means that something is unclear because it can be understood in more than one way. 18Case two: two different sentences, same meaning. 19Consider these two sentences: 20"We had only one liter of water." 21"We only had one liter of water." 22Each sentence can mean that there is a problem, that we needed more than one liter. 23In general, when the adverb "only" follows the verb "had," the adverb is closer to the object of the sentence and helps show that there is, or might be, a problem. 24Case three: two sentences, different meanings 25The sentence "We had only one liter of water" usually means that we wanted or needed more water. 26On the other hand, "We only had one liter of water," might mean that there is no problem. For example, if there were 50 liters of water, drinking one liter would usually not be a problem. 27The examples from all of the above cases help us see how important it is to explain the situation. That is because "only had" can have two meanings, depending on the situation. 28Last, there is another use of "had only" which comes from conditional statements such as the following: 29"If I had only been there sooner, I could have seen her." 30Here, the use of "had only" following the word "if" expresses regret. 31We hope this explanation helps you, Madhur. 32Do you have a question about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com. 33And that's Ask a Teacher. 34I'm Andrew Smith. 35Andrew Smith wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English. 36______________________________________________ 37Words in This Story 38absence -n. the state of being away; not present 39lack of -n phrase. the absence of or not enough of something