"We may read this book only."
Translation:Smíme číst jen tuto knihu.
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"Smíme číst jenom tuto knihu" is correct and accepted, of course. The syntax is the same as in the translation given above. We have no report from today - if we had one from you, I could probably tell you why your answer wasn't accepted.
Would it be correct if "jen" was at the end of the sentence, as in:" Smíme číst tuto knihu jen" ?
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"smime jen tuto knihu." Possible in czech? we are only allowed (to read, what else do you with it) this book. Thx
It is possible, yeah. I would not readily accept it here, though, since the English sentence contains "read" and it could also work without it.
"Smíme číst jen..." and "Smíme jen číst ..." - what's the reason why the second isn't grammatically correct?
Unlike in English, where "only" can go before the verb (and then it can be ambiguous as to what it refers to), we always place it just in front of the word it modifies.
Therefore, "Smíme jen číst tuto knihu" would mean that the only thing we can do with this book is READ it. And that's obviously not what we want to say -- instead, we want to say that this is the only BOOK that we are allowed to read. And that is why "jen" goes before the object ("tuto knihu") and not before the verb.