Question

ryo

Time will only tell if other nations follow this path.
という文章の和訳問題でonlyが修飾する語がわかりません
自分はtellを修飾して　わかるだけだ　だと思ったのですが、答えは　時間のみが　となっていました。このonlyの場所で主語を修飾できるのですか？

Answer 1

zmic

"Time will only tell if..." is somewhat of a fixed "poetic" expression meaning "Only time will tell if...". When you read this sentence strictly, "only" should indeed modify "tell" rather than "time", but the intended meaning is "Only time will tell if..." or "Time only will tell if..."

So while the answer is indeed that "only" modifies "time", this is unusual. Most of the times you can safely assume that "only" in this position modifies the verb:

Only Bob will tell us the secret -> but not Alice.
Bob will only tell us the secret if we give him money.
Alice will only dance but she won't sing.