When organizing your home, you will often need to describe the process of sorting out junk and getting rid of things.
| I am getting rid of the useless old junk. | Estou a livrar-me da velharia inútil. |
Placement Changes the Meaning
In Portuguese, focus adverbs like só and apenas (both meaning "only" or "just") highlight specific parts of your sentence. The golden rule is simple: a focus adverb modifies the word or phrase that immediately follows it.
If you put só before the subject, it means only that person performed the action (and no one else).
| Only I kept the useless old junk. | Só eu guardei a velharia inútil. |
If you move só to sit before the object, the meaning shifts entirely. Now it means the person acted on only that thing (and nothing else).
| I kept only the useless old junk. | Eu guardei só a velharia inútil. |
Here is another pair demonstrating how moving só changes the emphasis from who did the tidying to what was tidied:
| Only I tidied the attic. | Só eu arrumei o sótão. |
| I tidied only the attic. | Eu arrumei só o sótão. |
Using "Apenas"
The adverb apenas is a common synonym for só and follows the exact same placement rules.
| Only we are sorting the pile. | Apenas a gente está a fazer a triagem da pilha. |
| We are only sorting the pile. | A gente está a fazer apenas a triagem da pilha. |
Emphasizing Concepts and Adjectives
You can also place focus adverbs directly before abstract nouns or adjectives to express that a situation is "only" a certain thing, or "just" a certain way.
| Only detachment is a bit difficult. | Só o desapego é um bocado difícil. |
| Minimalist detachment is just difficult. | O desapego minimalista é apenas difícil. |