sometimes だけ gets mildly confusing..


If someone says それだけ、食べないでください, does it mean:

  1. Please don't eat only that [eat other things too!]

or

  2. [You can eat anything you like but] only that, please don't eat it.

* * *

What about それだけ、たべてください? Does it mean:

  1. Please eat only that [and don't eat anything else].

or

  2. [I don't really care if you eat anything else but] only that, please eat it.




This is really ambiguous and depends on how it's stressed/paused:

> それだけ食べないでください。  
>  "Please don't eat _only_ that."
>
> それだけ、食べないでください。  
>  "Please don't eat that. (Eat anything else.)"

The actual sentence seems to have been this though:

> それだけは、食べないでください。  
>  ^

That marks それだけ as the _topic_ , which clearly means _" Please don't eat
that."_




This is really ambiguous and depends on how it's stressed/paused:

> それだけ食べないでください。  
>  "Please don't eat _only_ that."
>
> それだけ、食べないでください。  
>  "Please don't eat that. (Eat anything else.)"

The actual sentence seems to have been this though:

> それだけは、食べないでください。  
>  ^

That marks それだけ as the _topic_ , which clearly means _" Please don't eat
that."_

