Express Only With Zhǐ

zhǐ is an adverb and it is the most basic one for expressing “only” in Chinese. It can come directly before verb and right after subject.

subject + zhǐ + verb + object

wǒ zhǐ zuò le yī jiànshì. ——> I only did one thing. 我只做了一件事。 wǒ zhǐ yǒu yīge zhōngguó péngyou. ——> I only have a Chinese friend. 我只有一个中国朋友。

subject + zhǐ + helping/mental verb You can also place zhǐ right before the helping/mental verb such as “xiǎng”, “xǐhuan“ or “huì”.

wǒ zhǐ xǐhuan chī píngguǒ. ——> I only like to eat apples. 我只喜欢吃苹果。 wǒ zhǐ xiǎng gēn nǐ yīqǐ qù zhōngguó. ——> I only want to with you together go to China (I only want to go to China with you.) 我只想跟你一起去中国。 wǒ míngtiān zhǐ huì zuò yīdiǎn zuòyè. ——> I tomorrow will only do a little homework. 我明天只会做一点作业。