She speaks English

[Jenz]

Dear teachers,

Please tell me how different these sentences are. Thanks.

1. Only when she is here does she speak English.
2. She speaks English only when she is here.
3. When she is here, she only speaks English.

Jenz

[Yankee]

Hi Guest

The first two sentences mean exactly the same thing: She never speaks English at any time except when she's here. She speaks a different language in other places --- never English.

The third sentence has a different meaning. She doesn't speak any other language except English when she's here, but it's entirely possible that she also speaks English at other times. In fact, it's possible that she almost always speaks English. We don't know for sure. This information is not given in the sentence.

Amy
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Amy
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ESL teacher, and native speaker of American English

[Mlngvt]

Thanks Yankee,
It's clear enough.