but sees only/only sees his own reflection in the glass.

[Topstudent]

He goes to the door to the back deck and looks out the window, but sees only/only sees his own reflection in the glass.

Which one of these is the more natural word order?

 

[emsr2d2]

Technically, it should be "sees only". However, you'll hear "only sees" from a lot of native speakers. If you swap "only" for "nothing except" (which is effectively what it means here) it might become clearer.

... looks out the window, but sees nothing except his own reflection.
... looks out the window, but nothing except sees his own reflection.