Questions & Answers about Solo quiero estudiar español esta tarde.
What exactly does solo mean here? Does it mean “alone” or “only”?
In this sentence, solo is an adverb meaning only (not “alone”).
- Solo quiero estudiar español esta tarde ≈ “I only want to study Spanish this afternoon.”
- It’s saying that studying Spanish this afternoon is the only thing you want, not that you want to study Spanish by yourself.
If you wanted to say “I want to study Spanish alone this afternoon,” you’d normally move solo:
- Quiero estudiar español solo esta tarde.
(More clearly: Quiero estudiar español yo solo esta tarde.)
Can I use solamente instead of solo? Is there any difference?
Yes. Solo and solamente are interchangeable here, and both mean only.
Both are correct and natural in Spain.
Nuance: solamente can sound a bit more formal or emphatic in some contexts, but in everyday speech the difference is minimal.
What about sólo with an accent? Is that different from solo?