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I put "I'm only going to ask once." It was marked as incorrect, which I flagged, but I wonder if I'm misunderstanding the sentence some how?
In any case, "I ask only once" does not sound like something a fluent English speaker would say except perhaps in some sort of very specific context that I can't seem to imagine right now.
I shall/I am going to are equivalents, brings the sentence into the future.
I'm going to ask only once = eu vou perguntar só uma vez
I ask only once = eu pergunto só uma vez
It's a general statement, that is why it's in present tense.
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It's Duolingo English. Of course "going to / will / shall ask" is more natural, but sounding natural is not Duo's strong point.
They are the same when they mean just/only. But só also means alone (= sozinho). Eu só quero ficar só = I just want to be alone
Both are ok :)
Some adjectives can only go before, and some others only after the noun.
Some can take both places.
These will have a more sentimental meaning when placed before the noun, and a very plain meaning after the noun.
The affix '-mente' in romance languages is equivalent to '-ly' in english. So, the difference between 'só' and 'somente' is the same between 'quiet' and 'quietly'.
Is I will ask only once ok? It got marked as wrong but it sounds a lot more natural than I ask only once.
Is "I ask only once" even correct in english? I am a native speaker but would never say this phrase.... it's I'll ask only once, and it got marked wrong
It is if you describe a pattern. For example, if I'm a teacher and I'm telling you about class rules. I can say "At the lesson, I ask only once. If the student doesn't hear me because they're not paying attention, they get a penalty point."
Is "somente" merely for emphasis? Like "only" in the english version. (i.e. could I say :Eu pergunto uma vez")
I've a question about the stress of "somente" is it "sóménte" ou "soménte"? O:
The sound of "so" is "só", but the stressed syllable is "men". (There can only be one stressed syllable in Portuguese).
Words without accents ending in "e" have the second last syllable stressed.
I wrote "I ask one time only" and got it wrong. Usually it's okay to switch words like that...
It usally has the past meaning, like "this one time, I..." but we can say "one time" for "once" in certain contexts.
To me, "I'm asking only once" is a correct translation, as in "I'm only going to ask once". Reported.
Neither are Simple Present Tense:
http://www.ef.edu/english-resources/english-grammar/simple-present-tense/
At the level that this sentence is at (Adverbs), we do not learn any other tenses for several more lesson units.
Your sentence is grammatically correct, however, idiomatically, no one would say that .
