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I'm writing a description for my game's store page, and I'm having a bit of a trouble with a sentence:

Use plants and animals, collect and channel water... However only with strategy and optimisation you can solve all the levels.

Is the "you can" in the correct order there? Or should it be "can you"?

Or this sounds ugly in both ways, and I should restructure it? This question already makes it a bit suspicious so I would be happy if you could suggest something else.

Thanks!

Tudvari
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1 Answers1

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However, only with strategy and optimisation can you solve all the levels.

"can you" is the appropriate usage. Primary emphasis in the sentence is on the word 'only' and then on 'can'. The same sentence restructured so as to use 'you can' would be:

However, you can solve all the levels only with strategy and optimisation.

The difference in meaning is subtle but present. The first sentence has an implication that strategy and optimisation are the only possible ways to solve the levels and that anything else is bound to fail. The second sentence does not have as strong a connotation and in fact, depending on which word is emphasised, can also imply that strategy and optimisation are the only things needed to solve all the levels. In the first sentence emphasis is implicit, while in the second it is not.

Karthik Thrikkadeeri
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    Please don't answer duplicates, especially when they've been acknowledged as such. If you wish to add an answer that you feel adds to those already given, do it at the original. – Edwin Ashworth Mar 26 '21 at 19:27
  • @EdwinAshworth my bad! I saw your comments only after submitting the answer and I'm not familiar with the posts here. Should I delete my answer? – Karthik Thrikkadeeri Mar 26 '21 at 20:32
  • You can do, but the question has been confirmed as a duplicate now. But do make further contributions (it's harder than it used to be, as so many questions have been answered! Perhaps you can search through tags, find some questions that interest you, and add to / challenge existing answers.) – Edwin Ashworth Mar 27 '21 at 10:57