Chỉ (Adv)

Situations

S1: Nam buys a pen for 10,000 VND, not more. He says:

Cây bút này giá chỉ 10.000 đồng.
(This pen costs only 10,000 VND.)

In this situation, chỉ is used to express the meaning that the price of the pen is limited to the level of 10,000 đồng and such a price is cheap.

S2: Nam says to Lan that he loves only her, not anyone else:

[1] Anh chỉ yêu em.
(I love only you.)
[2] Anh yêu chỉ một mình em.
(You are the only one I love.)

In this situation, Nam wants to say that Lan is his unique girlfriend. He does not love anyone else.

Definition

Chỉ, as an adverb, is used to express the limited extent of a thing, characteristic, or action.

Related Expressions

• Chỉ is the most important word among the group of words expressing restriction: chỉ, có, thôi, mới... These words are opposite to the group of những, đến, mãi... expressing the meaning: much, high, far, expensive, etc. Cf. có (p. 77), thôi (p. 369), mới (p. 257).

Combinations

• chỉ có...

[1] Lớp này chỉ có 2 sinh viên.
(There are only two students in this class.)

• chỉ... (có)... thôi

[2] Anh ấy chỉ viết có một trang thôi.
(He wrote only one page.)

• chỉ... mới...

[3] Chỉ tôi mới có thể thuyết phục anh ta.
(I am the only one who can persuade him.)