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Would one say they “typically only use public transportation” or “typically use only public transportation” inverting the order ?

This is to settle an argument between my friends.

Prem
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AGreatUsernameChoice
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    What about 'typically use public transportation only'? Grammatically all are correct, though 'typically' next to 'only' is a bit clumsy. – fev Jan 13 '22 at 14:57
  • Anyone saying one is wrong is wrong. The second variant is more formal, and it can be argued that the use of 'typically' sits better with the more formal variant. // Admittedly, 'typically only use public transportation' does have the limiting modifier 'only' before the verb, but in this case 'only use as opposed to trainspot, **hold up stagecoaches** or photograph buses say' is hardly a likely reading. "He only eats fish" is standard to mean "He eats only fish". – Edwin Ashworth Jan 13 '22 at 15:24

4 Answers4

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In speech, there is no problem. You can hear the focus constituent of only by its high stress, so only can go immediately before any constituent that contains its focus. In this case, only use p.t or use only p.t. both work viva voce, no diff, speaker's choice.

But in writing, a reader can't hear the intonation that identifies the focus of only to a listener, so the writing rule is to put only right before its focus constituent, to eliminate ambiguity (assuming that's what you want to do with the writing). In written communication, use only public transportation is simpler and requires no syntactic processing.

John Lawler
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My Answer is basically a comment which is too long.

In a sentence "Only" can occur in various Positions, where each has a slightly Different meaning.

Consider:
I cook minced meat.

Insert "only" in various Positions, and check the meaning:
Only I cook minced meat : Nobody else in my house can cook that.
I only cook minced meat : I do not eat it.
I cook only minced meat : I can not cook other types of meat.
I cook minced only meat : Meaningless ? Not sure ; There may be something like "minced-only meat" versus "minced-and-marinated meat", which I can not cook.

Coming to your Question:
To me "I typically only use public transportation" might indicate that I only use, but do not support/promote/praise, public transportation.
While "I typically use only public transportation" might indicate that I do not use private transportation.

Only you [ nobody else ] can use this to settle the argument between friends.
You can only use [ involve no other action ] this to settle the argument between friends.
You can use only this [ use nothing else ] to settle the argument between friends.

IMPORTANT: Even though there are various meanings attached to the Positions of "Only", informally, the context in the conversation will let you know what was meant, even when "Only" was in a wrong Position.

Prem
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  • No. 'I only cook minced meat' in conversation defaults to 'I don't cook any meat other than mince' (this will not have the stress on cook) on pragmatic grounds (how people actually use language); this is not 'using only in a wrong position'. The 'correct' 'I cook only minced meat' sounds pretentious in most conversation. Rules are defined largely by usage, not out-of-date books on grammar. – Edwin Ashworth Jan 14 '22 at 17:25
  • @EdwinAshworth, I will take a random example and change it to suit my example : Don Knuth said "I have only proved it correct, not tried it." [[ https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Donald_Knuth ]] ; I can change this to "I have only cooked it, not tried it." or even "I only cook it, never eat it." or " [ Being a Professional Chef, when someone orders it ] , I only cook the Damn minced meat ; I never eat it, because I hate that texture !! " – Prem Jan 14 '22 at 18:55
  • You say "Check the meaning" not @Check the meaning in a sentence where the 'rule-based' reading is forced. Pragmatics is at least as important as grammar. – Edwin Ashworth Jan 14 '22 at 20:04
  • Pragmatic Example : When someone tells me "All Politicians are not honest ; [....] Octogenarian Politicians are honest" ; I know what they mean, but it is "wrong" and the "correct" way would be "Not all Politicians are honest ; [....] Octogenarian Politicians are honest" .... [[ cont ]] – Prem Jan 15 '22 at 07:05
  • [[ cont ]] .... What I am trying to say : We can generally make out what someone wants to say, by pauses & stresses & intonations & even by common usages ; But there may be a "better" way to state it. In OP Example, Both are grammatically correct, Both go with the same meaning in given context, But may mean something else in other contexts, Hence, one way is "better" than the other, though while speaking informally they are fine. [[ PS :: I am not sure what you mean in your Previous Comment about "Check the meaning" where there might by a typo ]] @EdwinAshworth – Prem Jan 15 '22 at 07:16
  • You're arguing with McCawley (and John Lawler) here. 'Only usually precedes its focus, but need not immediately precede it; for example, John only drinks beer can be interpreted with beer as focus even though only is separated from it by drinks.' In deciding that your way is 'better', you're electing yourself as judge in this matter. – Edwin Ashworth Jan 15 '22 at 17:57
  • I am in agreement with Lawler, and have mentioned in my answer that "the context in the conversation will let you know what was meant" & Lawler mentioned "the writing rule is to put only right before its focus constituent" : Both ViewPoints are almost same except for Better Terminology by Lawler ; I said "context in conversation" whereas Lawler said "intonation & focus" .... [[cont ]] – Prem Jan 15 '22 at 19:45
  • [[cont]] .... Coming to McCawley, Obviously, he is talking about speech, not writing, when he says "Pronounced with stress on beer, the focus is beer", not covering the case where there is no stress; I do not have his book; Wonder what his ideas were, on writing "Only" in Various Positions. Yet, that too ties with my claim that "the context in the conversation will let you know what was meant" where the stress gives the outline. [[ @EdwinAshworth , this is my last comment because I am getting warning about "moving extended discussions to chat" ; Thanks for introducing McCawley ]] – Prem Jan 15 '22 at 20:09
  • But 'the context in the conversation will let you know what was meant, even when "Only" was in a wrong Position' asserts that there is rule-breaking even in speech. JL states, on the contrary, that the rule is a [to quote] 'writing [only] rule' and 'in speech ... only can go immediately before any constituent that contains its focus'. – Edwin Ashworth Jan 15 '22 at 23:02
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Assuming that you and your friends mean to say "I do not use any form of transportation other than public transportation", the correct answer is:

typically use only public transportation

However, as the other answer points out, which of the two is correct depends on the intended meaning.

narx
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  • Are the many practised Anglophones who say "She only eats fish" rather than "She eats only fish" incorrect? Who has the authority to say so? McCawley, who studied under Chomsky, I believe, finds "She only eats fish" etc totally acceptable in conversation, not incorrect. – Edwin Ashworth Jan 16 '22 at 14:50
  • "She only eats fish" and "she eats only fish" are both correct, depending on what the speaker is trying to communicate. See the assumption made in the first sentence of my answer.

    "She only eats fish" - Eating fish is the only thing she does.

    "She eats only fish" - She eats nothing other than fish, but she does do other things.

     – narx Feb 04 '22 at 22:27
  • And, I'd add, there is a difference between conversational English (looser) and written English (stricter adherence to grammar rules). – narx Feb 04 '22 at 22:30
  • No. You're applying strict adherence to a rule-of-thumb and disregarding what most native speakers actually do. Pragmatics is extremely important. Many practised Anglophones would say "She only eats fish" with the meaning of the never-ambiguous "She eats only fish", meaning that the grammars must recognise this as correct usage. // If you're going to demand adherence to the written letter of laws, Grice's maxim of non-ambiguity would disallow "She only eats fish" itself ... Eating fish is the only thing she does? or All she does with fish is to eat them. I have to catch, fillet, cook .... – Edwin Ashworth Feb 05 '22 at 16:49
  • While I agree that native speakers do say "she only eats fish" and mean what every other native speaker understands it to mean, I still maintain that spoken and written English should follow different rules—stricter for the written. That doesn't mean that that's what actually happens in real life. Still, that languages by nature are constantly evolving shouldn't lead us to simply lie down and give up. – narx Apr 01 '22 at 16:09
  • Don't tell me: you also allow and support the use of they as a gender neutral singular pronoun... because that's "what most native speakers actually do." It's a mad, mad world. – narx Apr 01 '22 at 16:10
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'Typically use only' means they usually use public transportation only and no other means of transport. While 'typically only use' means they only usually use public transportation and rarely any other mode of transportation

Rayhan
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  • Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please [edit] to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center. – Community Jan 16 '22 at 16:16