Where has Kodorosi gone?

[Tdol]

Adverbs, apparently, also modify whole sentences.

[Frank Antonson]

I believe that if you looked "only" up in a dictionary it would be described as an adjective as well as an adverb.

It's like the word "no" in German is "kein" when it is an adjective.

[Kondorosi]

Adverbs, apparently, also modify whole sentences.

Weatherwise, the outlook is dismal.
Only her sister visited her in hospital.

They sometimes do. The referential scope of an adverb may focus on different clause elements. But do adverbials always modify something?

This is one possible solution to the problem. However, there are others.

However is an adverbial, a conjunctive adverb. What does it modify? Does it modify something?

[Kondorosi]

I believe that if you looked "only" up in a dictionary it would be described as an adjective as well as an adverb.

It's like the word "no" in German is "kein" when it is an adjective.

[Only I] can talk to you.
[Nur ich] kann mit dir sprechen.

adv.

[Frank Antonson]

Well, I would say the same about "nur". It is acting as an adjective because it is modifying a pronoun.
Have you looked either of these words up in dictionaries?

[indonesia]

This is my problem. 'Only' can't modify a noun.

I'm hardly a fountain of knowledge, (as you well know ), but how about this sentence Mr. K.

We were on the edge of our seats watching the climax of the the match, only football can do that to us.

I suppose 'only' is acting as an adjective, but it is describing a noun, i think!

[Kondorosi]

CGEL by Quirk et al. says 'only' in that sentence is a focusing subjunct, an adverbial. The book gives a very comprehensive treatment of the different adverbials and their grammatical functions.

[Kondorosi]

I'm hardly a fountain of knowledge, (as you well know ), but how about this sentence Mr. K.

By that standard, I am a desert of knowledge in the English language.

We were on the edge of our seats watching the climax of the the match, only football can do that to us.

That is funny.

[Frank Antonson]

I have looked "only" up in the dictionary, and it is considered sometimes as an adjective (like "few"). It is an adjective in the sentence you are considering.