Alleen en Maar

[Cherish]

Hi,

Can anyone tell me the difference between alleen and maar?
The program i use to learn Dutch has used them both like this:

' Ik heb maar één schoon'.
' Ik heb alleen een lepel nodig'.

Thanks!

[Joke]

Can anyone tell me the difference between alleen and maar?
The program i use to learn Dutch has used them both like this:

' Ik heb maar één schone'. Or you have to specify the 'schoon' thing: Ik heb maar één schoon T-shirt.
' Ik heb alleen een lepel nodig'.

Thanks!

Usually, alleen means "this and nothing else" whereas maar means "this much and not more".
Ik heb maar één schoon T-shirt = I've only got one clean shirt (not more).
Ik heb alleen een lepel nodig = I only need a spoon (no fork or knive).
Ik heb alleen twee katten = I only have two cats (and no other pets).
Ik heb maar twee katten = I have only two cats (not more).

Note that you also can use the combination alleen maar. This combination has the same meaning as alleen.

Joke

[Cherish]

Brilliant thanks for the help!
It's words like these that makes learning Dutch with Rosetta Stone difficult, because it's hard to convey the descriptions of the words you gave in pictures.