Level 2 · Elementary
Only: 只
Subj. + 只 + Verb
只 (zhǐ) means "only", and like all Chinese adverbs it sits right before the verb: 我只有一个妹妹 "I only have one younger sister", 我只要了一杯水 "I only ordered a glass of water".
English lets "only" float around the sentence; Chinese doesn't. Whatever is limited, 只 stays glued to the verb. Note: 只有 here is simply "only have" — the conditional pattern 只有…才 ("only if") is a different, more advanced structure.
Examples
我只有一个妹妹。
我只有一個妹妹。
wǒ zhǐ yǒu yī ge mèi mei
I only have one younger sister.
我只要了一杯水。
wǒ zhǐ yào le yī bēi shuǐ
I only ordered a glass of water.
他只会说一点中文。
他只會說一點中文。
tā zhǐ huì shuō yī diǎn zhōng wén
He can only speak a little Chinese.
我们只去了一天。
我們只去了一天。
wǒ men zhǐ qù le yī tiān
We only went for one day.
Common mistakes
✗ 只我有一个妹妹。
✓ 我只有一个妹妹。
只 goes before the verb, not in front of the subject.
Related grammar points
See it in a story
Read this pattern in context: Lil Jon Orders Lunch · The Farmer and the Rabbit — free graded stories with tap-to-reveal pinyin and translations.
