But there can be no question that usage is overwhelmingly against an
adverb's standing between _to_ and the infinitive. Few writers ever place
an adverb there at all; and these few, only an occasional adverb, and that
adverb only occasionally.
Whether the adverb should be placed before the _to_ or after the infinitive
is often a nice question, sometimes to be determined by the ear alone. It
should never stand, however, where it would leave the meaning ambiguous or
in any way obscure.]
+Examples+.--_I only_ rowed across the river = _I only_ (= _alone_, an
adjective), and no one else, rowed etc., or = I _only rowed_ etc., +but+
did not _swim_ or _wade_. I rowed _only across_ the river = _across_, not
_up_ or _down_ etc. I rowed across the _river only_ = the _river only_, not
the _bay_ etc. _Merely to see_ (not _to merely see_) her was sufficient.
_Not every collegian_ is a scholar (not _Every collegian_ is _not_ a
scholar).
+Direction+.--_Study the Caution and the Examples, and correct these
errors_:--
1. I have thought of marrying often.
2. We only eat three meals a day.
3. He hopes to rapidly recruit.
4. All is not gold that glitters.
5. He tries to distinctly speak.
6. He tries distinctly to speak.
7. All that glitters is not gold.
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