（只／仅）限于…
to be confined to, limited to
Structure
影响／范围／对象 ＋ （只／仅）限于 ＋ 范围 · 不限于 … · 包括但不限于 …
What it means
To be confined to, limited to: something stays inside a boundary and goes no further.
How it is built
Effect / right / group + （只／仅）限于 + boundary: 本次优惠仅限于新注册的用户 (this offer is open only to newly registered users). Notices shorten it: 仅限本人使用.
When to use it
Formal and written; in speech say 只有…才… or 就…. 不限于 opens an incomplete list, and contracts say 包括但不限于. At the head of a sentence it means ‘owing to the limits of’: 限于篇幅，….
Watch out
Not with a bare number: ✗ 每人限于三件 ✓ 每人限购三件. The thing limited comes first, the boundary after 于. Pronounced xiàn yú.
Examples
这种药的副作用一般只限于轻微的头痛。
The drug’s side effects are usually limited to a mild headache.
本次优惠仅限于新注册的用户。
This offer is open only to newly registered users.
讨论基因技术，不能只限于“能不能做到”，还要问“该不该做”。
A discussion of gene technology cannot stop at whether it can be done; it must also ask whether it should be.
Learn this in Lesson 179 · HSK 7–9: 克隆猴与基因编辑 (Cloned monkeys and edited genes)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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