Focus particles select alternatives. Nur excludes alternatives, ankaŭ adds one, eĉ marks an unexpectedly extreme alternative, and words such as ĝuste, precipe, and almenaŭ identify or rank the focused item. Their safest placement is immediately before the word or whole constituent they affect. Moving a particle can change the proposition even when every word remains grammatically well formed.
Scope: what exactly is being focused?
Compare three positions of nur:
Nur Ana telefonis al la kuracisto.
Only Ana called the doctor.
Ana nur telefonis al la kuracisto.
Ana only called the doctor; she did nothing more.
Ana telefonis nur al la kuracisto.
Ana called only the doctor.
The first excludes other callers, the second excludes other actions, and the third excludes other recipients. The particle stands before its scope—the constituent whose alternatives are being considered.
The dedicated Nur and Eĉ page develops their lexical meanings; here the central question is how position identifies scope.
Nur with nouns, verbs, adverbials, and clauses
Nur can limit many constituent types:
Mi bezonas nur kvin minutojn.
I need only five minutes.
Ni renkontiĝas nur vendrede.
We meet only on Fridays / not before Friday, depending on context.
Mi rakontos al vi la pasvorton nur se vi promesas ne noti ĝin.
I will tell you the password only if you promise not to write it down.
Before kvin minutojn, nur limits quantity. Before a time point such as vendrede, it can mean “on no other day” or, in a suitable timeline, “not before Friday.” If the distinction matters, write it explicitly: sole vendrede, ne en aliaj tagoj versus ne antaŭ vendredo.
Before se, nur scopes over the entire condition clause. Do not push it inside unless it should focus one element inside that clause:
Mi venos nur se ankaŭ Lea venos.
I will come only if Lea comes too.
The first particle limits the condition under which I come; ankaŭ adds Lea to an already relevant group of people who may come.
Ankaŭ adds the focused alternative
The clearest modern placement of ankaŭ is immediately before its scope:
Ankaŭ Samir subskribis la peticion.
Samir also signed the petition.
Samir ankaŭ subskribis la peticion.
Samir also signed the petition / signing was another thing he did.
Samir subskribis ankaŭ la leteron.
Samir signed the letter too.
The middle sentence is context-dependent. It may add the whole action “Samir signed the petition,” or—especially with stress on subskribis—add signing to Samir's other actions. If the subject alone is meant, Ankaŭ Samir... is clearer. If the object is meant, place ankaŭ before the object.
Historical and current usage also permits ankaŭ after the expression it affects, especially after a personal pronoun: Mi ankaŭ venos can mean “I too will come.” This is foundationally attested, not an error. The before-scope rule is a clarity recommendation when ambiguity is possible.
La unua kandidato respondis ĝuste, kaj la dua ankaŭ.
The first candidate answered correctly, and the second did too.
Here final ankaŭ stands for an omitted repeated predicate. Its scope is recoverable from the parallel clauses.
Eĉ marks an unexpected extreme
Eĉ normally stands directly before the surprising element:
Eĉ la direktoro ne konis la novan pasvorton.
Even the director did not know the new password.
La infano memoras eĉ la plej etajn detalojn.
The child remembers even the smallest details.
Ni laboris eĉ dum la elektropaneo.
We worked even during the power outage.
Each sentence invokes a scale: the director was especially expected to know; the tiniest details were least expected to be remembered; a power outage was an especially unlikely time to continue working.
Eĉ ne means “not even” because eĉ scopes over the negated constituent or proposition:
Ŝi eĉ ne respondis al mia mesaĝo.
She did not even reply to my message.
This says replying was a minimal expected action and did not happen. Ne eĉ ŝi respondis instead focuses the surprising person within a negative frame and is much less ordinary; choose Eĉ ŝi ne respondis when the person is the focus.
Ĝuste, precipe, and almenaŭ
These particles also gain precision from adjacency:
Mi bezonas ĝuste la version, kiun vi sendis hieraŭ.
I need exactly the version that you sent yesterday.
La ŝanĝo helpos precipe malgrandajn entreprenojn.
The change will especially help small businesses.
Almenaŭ tri homoj devas resti ĝis la fino.
At least three people must remain until the end.
Ĝuste identifies an exact alternative, precipe raises one alternative above others without excluding them, and almenaŭ sets a lower boundary. Compare precipe Ana laboris (“Ana especially, among the workers”) with Ana precipe laboris (“working was what Ana chiefly did”).
Some of these words also have ordinary adverbial meanings. Ĝuste can mean “correctly,” as in Li respondis ĝuste. Position and context distinguish manner from focus.
Focus an entire phrase, not its internal first word by accident
A prepositional phrase is one constituent, so place the particle before the preposition:
Ni povas renkontiĝi nur post la tagmanĝo.
We can meet only after lunch.
— Ĉu la rabato validas por ĉiuj klientoj? — Ne, ĝi validas nur por studentoj.
— Does the discount apply to all customers? — No, it applies only to students.
La rabato validas ankaŭ por studentoj el eksterlando.
The discount also applies to students from abroad.
Nur post la tagmanĝo limits the whole time phrase. Ankaŭ por studentoj... adds a beneficiary group. Placing the particle between the preposition and its complement—por ankaŭ studentoj—changes the structure and normally gives ankaŭ narrower scope over studentoj, if it is interpretable at all.
A complex noun phrase likewise stays together:
Nur la tri kandidatoj kun valida atestilo rajtas eniri.
Only the three candidates with a valid certificate may enter.
The scope is the entire identified group, not merely the article or numeral.
Focus particles with questions and ki- words
Question words normally occupy the beginning of their clause. When ankaŭ adds another unknown person or thing, it commonly follows the ki- word:
Kiu ankaŭ partoprenos la videkunvenon?
Who else will take part in the video call?
Kion vi ankaŭ bezonas por fini la riparon?
What else do you need to finish the repair?
This is an important exception to the simple before-scope recommendation: kiu/kion retain their normal initial question position, and postposed ankaŭ signals “who/what else.”
If the particle scopes over a whole clause beginning with a ki- word, it stays before the clause:
Ŝi laboras ankaŭ kiam la oficejo estas fermita.
She also works when the office is closed.
Here ankaŭ affects the entire kiam clause; it does not mean “what other time?” Context decides whether English prefers “also” or an emphatic “even.”
Particles and constituent order
Case endings continue to mark roles inside focused constituents:
Nur tiun raporton la direktoro legis.
The director read only that report.
Tiun raporton is fronted and accusative; nur limits it. The alternative La direktoro legis nur tiun raporton is more neutral. Fronting adds contrast beyond the limitation itself.
Avoid separating the particle from its scope with unrelated material:
La direktoro nur post longa diskuto akceptis la proponon.
Only after a long discussion did the director accept the proposal.
Here nur belongs with post longa diskuto, so that phrase stays adjacent even though it appears between subject and verb.
Ne nur ... sed ankaŭ
The paired construction explicitly adds a parallel alternative:
La kurso instruas ne nur gramatikon, sed ankaŭ praktikan verkadon.
The course teaches not only grammar but also practical writing.
The two focused constituents should be grammatically parallel. Compare nouns with nouns, verbs with verbs, or clauses with clauses:
Ŝi ne nur tradukis la tekston, sed ankaŭ klarigis la kulturajn aludojn.
She not only translated the text but also explained the cultural references.
Misaligned structures force the reader to reconstruct the comparison. Repeating a preposition may be necessary: ne nur al la studentoj, sed ankaŭ al la instruistoj.
Speech, writing, and register
In speech, stress can clarify scope, especially with historically flexible ankaŭ. In writing, the reader cannot hear that stress, so adjacency is the most reliable strategy. Nur, eĉ, and focused ĝuste/precipe strongly favor immediate before-scope placement.
All these particles are neutral across registers. Dense chains of several particles—eble ankaŭ nur parte—are more common in (formal) or (academic) qualification and require careful ordering. Rewrite if the hierarchy cannot be understood on first reading.
Common Mistakes
Limiting the action when the subject is intended
❌ Ana nur telefonis al la kliniko.
Wrong for the intended meaning “Ana and nobody else”; this limits what Ana did.
✅ Nur Ana telefonis al la kliniko.
Only Ana called the clinic.
Focusing the subject instead of the time
❌ Nur mi telefonos post la kunveno.
Wrong for the intended time restriction; this says nobody except me will call.
✅ Mi telefonos nur post la kunveno.
I will call only after the meeting.
Putting ankaŭ before an initial question word
❌ Ankaŭ kiu venos al la kunveno?
Incorrect neutral question order — the ki-word normally comes first in its clause.
✅ Kiu ankaŭ venos al la kunveno?
Who else will come to the meeting?
Breaking the parallel construction
❌ Ŝi parolis ne nur kun la kliento, sed ankaŭ la teknikisto.
Incorrect — the second coordinated phrase lacks the shared preposition needed for parallel roles.
✅ Ŝi parolis ne nur kun la kliento, sed ankaŭ kun la teknikisto.
She spoke not only with the client but also with the technician.
Key Takeaways
- Place a focus particle immediately before the constituent it limits, adds, or highlights.
- Nur Ana, Ana nur telefonis, and nur al Ana have different scopes.
- Before-scope ankaŭ is clearest, though postposed ankaŭ is historically and currently accepted in recoverable contexts.
- Eĉ marks an unexpectedly extreme alternative; eĉ ne means “not even.”
- With initial ki- words, postposed ankaŭ often means “who/what else.”
Related Topics
- Focus and ContrastA2 — Place new or corrective information clearly with neutral end focus, focus particles, negation, and marked word order.
- Adverb PositionA2 — Place adverbs for clear scope, natural information flow, and deliberate focus in Esperanto clauses.
- Nur and EĉB2 — Place nur before what is restricted and eĉ before what is presented as an unexpected extreme.
- Adverb Scope and AmbiguityC1 — Control which word, phrase, or proposition an Esperanto adverb modifies through placement, punctuation, and explicit restructuring.
- Constituent NegationA1 — How placing ne before a phrase negates one participant, time, manner, or degree while leaving the rest of the clause asserted.
- Ne… Sed… CorrectionsB1 — Replace a rejected word, phrase, reason, or proposition with the intended alternative using the parallel frame ne… sed….