he could only come back vs he only could come back

Both phrases are correct, but they have slightly different meanings. 'He could only come back' implies that coming back was the only option available to him. 'He only could come back' suggests that the only thing he was able to do was to come back.

Last updated: March 20, 2024 • 853 views

he could only come back

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English.

This phrase indicates that coming back was the only option available to him.

Examples:

He could only come back after resolving the issue.
She could only come back if she finished her work.
They could only come back once they had permission.

Show examples from the web [+]

... the family's chances of being rich. He threw Stan out of the house, telling him he could only come back when he'd earned the kind of fortune he'd cost them.
Nov 4, 2015 ... ... he could only come back in the form he previously was before death and for him that was in pieces. Other characters (correct me if i'm wrong) ...
Jan 7, 2015 ... At that time, he was studying in Kampar therefore he could only come back during the weekends. But there was one time where he came back ...
Oct 6, 2014 ... In a sober and contrite interview with Charlie Rose, he said he realized he could only come back from the offense he'd caused “step by step,” ...

Alternatives:

He could come back only after resolving the issue.
He could come back only if he finished his work.
He could come back only once he had permission.

he only could come back

This phrase is correct but less common in English.

This phrase suggests that the only thing he was able to do was to come back.

Examples:

He only could come back because he had no other choice.
She only could come back if she wanted to avoid trouble.
They only could come back at that specific time.

Show examples from the web [+]

... was under heavy pressure, in particular by Paul-Henri Spaak, in the government Van Acker I. They demanded that he only could come back as king if he was ...

Alternatives:

He could only come back because he had no other choice.
She could only come back if she wanted to avoid trouble.
They could only come back at that specific time.

What Our Customers Are Saying

Our customers love us! We have an average rating of 4.79 stars based on 283,125 votes.
Also check out our 2,100+ reviews on TrustPilot (4.9).

"Thank you!"
Sachi Nakama July 2024
"I have literally been through chat, PI, claude, bard and bing and I got conflicting answers! Thank you! Human intelligence reigns!"
Retha July 2024
"Faster than AI"
CYNTHIA December 2023
"This was very helpful and I personally think this site is the best."
Kaden October 2023
"It was extremely thorough and very helpful!"
imperialelisa October 2023
"7 years without any disappointment. Always 100% satisfied. You guys are the best in the world at what you do. Thank you so much :)"
Zubair Alam October 2023
"In a world of text messages and online communication, this is great to have as a live tool. Thank you."
Selena October 2023
"Without textranch I would be stuck!"
宏祐 October 2023
"Accuracy and fast response. Personal comments from editor. Thank you."
Clh September 2023
"I wasn't aware of this service, it's fascinating and more reliable than standard IA tools available on the internet"
Arturo September 2023
"The fact that you can get reliable fast feedback on your texts."
Vinicius Antonio August 2023
"you guys are better than grammarly i'm being honest here"
ordinary July 2023
"OMG! This is really good than any other text correction tools I've used so far. Highly recommend this."
Vehan July 2023
"Very fast and accurate. thank you."
mojtaba July 2023
"I love this app because it's help to writing skills all of students ♥️"
Tarisini July 2023
"This was exactly the mistake I was looking for, the wording dind´t sound right at first. Better than grammarly!"
Ente July 2023
"The immediate help that I received was reassuring and very satisfactory. Thanks."
priiiyanshuu July 2023
"this helps A LOT for my studies."
kathnunez02 June 2023
"Woow!! I would never have expected such precision! Thank you soooo much!!"
Berta June 2023
"Real Time Editor and not AI. Many Thanks."
Priya June 2023
"The very first thing excites me about Textranch is how much your editors care."
sepideh June 2023
"The fact that texts are checked by human editors rather than by AI, etc. I appreciate this!"
Анна June 2023
"Feel welcome, immediate response, high quality feedback"
martin.roy June 2023
"This is the best app that I have ever seen"
Burulai May 2023

he could only come back vs he only could come back