Sentence: The only teachers who were required to attend the meeting were George

[Hieupt]

Hi all,

I got the following question wrong. Please help to explain the grammar point...

The only teachers who were required to attend the meeting were George, Betty, Jill, and me

I thought the use of "The only" is incorrect because "only" indicates ONLY ONE! But there were 4 teachers... The key says "me" is incorrect...

Please help...
_________________
Thank you very much,
Hieu Phan.

P/s: Please just correct if I'm wrong somewhere!

[Kitosdad]

In the context of the sentence, me IS incorrect.

Who was required to attend?
Betty was.
George was.
Jill was.
And so was I.
_________________
Keep it simple ... Keep it interesting.

[Hieupt]

Yes, I just found out the grammar point here is to use the subject pronouns after the verb "be".

But I wonder why it's acceptable to say "the only" but following more than 1 items described.

Thanks.
_________________
Thank you very much,
Hieu Phan.

P/s: Please just correct if I'm wrong somewhere!

[Cerberus™]

Yes, "only" is not at all restricted to being used with one thing or person. You simply use it to limit the action (or whatever it is) to a certain thing or things.
- Have you ever been to Africa? No, I have only been to South America, Asia, and Australia. (In this sentence, "only" is about "South America, Asia, and Australia". Note that "only" is often not placed at the most logical position in the sentence.)
- I have spoken to her only for a short time. (Only is about "for a short time": it limits the speaking to a short time, while restricting the speaking from any other period of time: not for a long time.)
- Please don't be mad, I haven't told many people. - Oh, you only told it to everyone. (This is ironic: "told it" is restricted to "everyone", which is of course no real restriction at all.)

Using "me" as a subject complement or as part of the subject ("Jill and me went to town") is considered wrong by conventional grammar, but it is often so used colloquially. The same applies to using it as a subject or subject complement in "than" and "as" clauses, like "she is prettier than me". But I think that there are some teachers in these modern days who will not consider all of this wrong anymore.

[Hieupt]

I see... Thanks Cerberus...
_________________
Thank you very much,
Hieu Phan.

P/s: Please just correct if I'm wrong somewhere!