只

只 (zhǐ) as an adverb means 'only,' 'just,' or 'merely.' Place it directly before a verb to restrict what's done — 我只喝水 (Wǒ zhǐ hē shuǐ, 'I only drink water'). Two things differ from English 'only.' First, position matters: 只 sits before the verb, not before the noun it logically limits.

To say 'only I went,' you'd say 只有我去了 (Zhǐ yǒu wǒ qù le), using 只有. Second, 只 frequently pairs with 才 in patterns like 只有…才… ('only if/when … then …') to express necessary conditions. Note that the same character read in the first tone, 只 (zhī), is a completely different word — a measure word for animals and one item of a pair (一只猫, 一只手). HSK lists both meanings under the same character.