solely

Learners often use *solely* where *only* is more natural in everyday speech (e.g., "I solely like coffee" sounds odd; "I only like coffee" is better). Another common mistake is using *solely* as an adjective (*a solely decision*), but it is an adverb and should modify verbs, adjectives, or whole clauses ("a solely financial decision" is also incorrect; say "a purely financial decision" or "a decision based solely on finances"). Word order can also cause problems: *solely* usually comes before the word or phrase it limits ("based solely on price", not "based on solely price").