Modifier Bonus: Only

I have a modifier tip only for you.

That's right, grammar friends! No one else gets to bask in this "only" modifier-themed glory, but you. So let's begin!

They only need the only donut.

When it comes to modifiers, proximity is key, especially when it comes to "only."  A modifier is a word or phrase describing something in a sentence. It provides more details. In general, you want your modifier to be right next to the thing it's modifying:

Sally has red hair. 

RED describes Sally's HAIR, so we write RED next to HAIR: red hair. If we wrote "Red Sally has hair," Sally becomes part of a Western. 

Proximity, Stress, and Context make Only a happy adverb.

Maybe Jack wouldn't have been such a dull boy if Stephen King liked adverbs more...BUT at least we can help Only find happiness by considering three things: proximity, stress, and context. 

Keep Only close.

"Only" should come RIGHT next to the word or phrase it's modifying, when possible. The further away it gets, the more the meaning changes:

(1) Only Sally has red hair.

(2) Sally only has red hair.

(3) Sally has only red hair.

(4) Sally has red hair only. 

Check that madness out. In example (1), Sally is the only girl in the room with red hair. No one else has red hair. 

In example (2), depending on the stress, this could mean Sally's hair is uninteresting because she has red hair, instead of blonde. 

In example (3), we learn that Sally doesn't have any other colors in her hair. She's not a redhead with blonde highlights.

In example (4), Sally allows no other colors in her hair, except red. If it isn't red, she plucks it out. 

In short, placement is everything. 

Sometimes stress is a good thing...

Meaning can change depending on which word or phrase in a sentence is stressed. For example,

(1) Only Sally has red hair.

(2) Only Sally has red hair.

In sentence (1), the emphasis is on RED, so this reads as more like a comparison or contradiction: "The brown-haired woman at the supermarket was wearing the same floral dress. It must have been Sally!" "Maybe...only Sally has red hair, not brown."

In sentence (2), the emphasis on SALLY means Sally is the only woman in the room with red hair. 

Pay attention to your context clues.

The context of a sentence, or the context given by the paragraph, will go a long way in limiting modifier confusion. Keeping the modifier close to the word it's modifying is always your best bet, but context will help:

“Some books should be tasted, some devoured, but only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly.” ― Francis Bacon

At a quick glance (and without its context), "...only a few [books] should be chewed and digested thoroughly" could mean (1) for a healthy daily diet, eat three books, not seven or ten; (2) out of all books, some should be studied, but only a few should be done so thoroughly; or (3) in a pile of many books, a few will be worthy of extensive study, and the rest, not as much. 

The context, "Some books should be tasted, some devoured...," helps us settle more securely on meaning (3). Bacon is comparing many books, stating that from those many, a few will stand out as important enough to study thoroughly. 

Resources:

Whitman, Neal. "'Only': The Most Insidious Misplaced Modifier." Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips. Last modified March 1, 2013. Accessed April 15, 2016.  http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/%E2%80%9Conly%E2%80%9D-the-most-insidious-misplaced-modifier