A Character a Day 就 part 1

Manuscript:

早上好，学习中文的朋友。 Good morning, Chinese learner friend.

Today we are going to talk about 就。

When someone is urging you to hurry up,  you may say ,”我就来。”

我就来。 I will come right away.    Here 就 means ‘at once, right away’  

Here is a scenario. My friend and I have a date next morning at 8:20am. The next morning, at 8:00am, I arrive at the place where we are supposed to meet. I wait and wait.  She shows up at 8:30am. I am a bit mad. I say,”八点我就来了。”  Here, to emphasize that I am earlier than she expects. I use 就. Then I complain that she is later than I expect. I say, “八点半你才来。” 才 emphasizes something happens much later than one’s expectation.

八点我就来了。

bā diǎn wǒ jiù lái le

I’ve already been here at 8:00.

八点半你才来。

bā diǎn bàn nǐ cái lai

You showed up until 8:30.

That’s all for today. In part two of character 就, we will talk about sentence structure 一 …… 就……。 And I will introduce a pop song to you. See you then. 不见不散。