merely
part of speech
adverb (merely)
meaning for a pupil
1) (formal) Merely means only or just, showing that something is small or not important. tree →
2) Merely can mean nothing more than: "It was merely a joke". tree →
sense in the lessons
It appears in formal texts and stories: "She merely smiled". In maths texts it can tell you a number is small: "merely 3 out of 30". Everyday speech uses "just" or "only". Phrases: merely a, not merely ... but also.
examples
- Public domain books belong to the public and we are merely their custodians. (Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1893) tree →
- As zero is not a digit itself, but only occupies the place of a digit, so the silent n is not a vowel itself, but merely occupies the place of a vowel. (Mordell, The Origin of Letters and Numerals according to Sefer Yetzirah (1914)) tree →
- It was merely a scratch, not a big cut. tree →
- He merely shrugged and walked away. tree →
- I was merely asking a question. tree →
- Merely 2 of the 30 pupils were late. tree →
- The wolf was not merely hungry, but starving. tree →
- The dog is merely playing; it won't bite. tree →
- Saying sorry is not merely polite, it is kind. tree →
- She merely looked at the cake, but did not eat it. tree →
- And the man replied, ‘Why, I’ve merely been gathering a handful of brushwood.’ tree →
note
Formal; everyday words: just, only. Comes from "mere" (a mere child). "Not merely ... but also" = not only ... but also.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «merely» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.