才 vs. 就

[tinny]

By popular request, I typed up the exercise sheets from last year's Chinese course on the topic of 才vs. 就. This will probably not lessen the confusion, I'm sorry to say. Those two are hard nuts to crack. I hope it'll at least be a little helpful, anyway.

才 vs. 就

才 only (re: time), only now, only then

1) Emphasizes that an action takes/took place „later than expected“. The opposite of 就.
他晚上十二点才睡觉，早上五点就起床了。

2) An action that took place „just now/only now“ - in that case can be replaced with 刚.
他才上课。/ 他刚上课。

3) Denotes the second one in a sequence of two actions, meaning „only then/and then“.
老师来了，教室里才开始安静。

就 right now, already, just (re: numbers), really, then

1) Emphasizes that an action takes place „immediately“. In this case it means the same as 马上 and is the opposite of 才.
他一到家就看电视。/ 他一到家马上看电视。

2) Means „just/only“, denoting the (low) number of something. It means the same as 只 or 仅.
妹妹就认识这一百个汉字。/ 妹妹只认识这一百个汉字。/ 妹妹仅认识这一百个汉字。

3) Emphasizes that an action is taking/took place „already/earlier than expected“. In this case it means the same as 已经 and is the opposite of 才.
八点上课，他七点就来了。/ 八点上课，他七点已经来了。

4) It can also mean „really“, affirming something that was brought up before.
他想买的就是这种词典。

5) It can be used to express a „wish“ or „intention“ (also meaning something like „really“).
我就不相信我今天做不完这份功课。

6) It can be used in a conditional sense, meaning „then“.
哥哥去我就去。/ 如果哥哥去我就去。

Note that when there’s a time given, 就 will use 了, but 才 won’t.
Examples:
他现在才吃饭。 他昨天八点才吃饭。

Exercises for 才 vs. 就

Fill with 才 or 就 :

1. 不到八点，你 _____ 要睡觉了。

2. 他来这个地方的时候，_____ 十九岁。

3. 你想吃什么， 我 _____ 给你做什么。

4. 他每次一想到能去上课，_____ 很高兴。

5. 我们公司的李小姐 _____ 到北京两天。

6. 都已经十点了，你怎么 _____ 来上课

7. 他教孩子学汉语的时候，孩子 _____ 两岁多。

8. 在外面工作了，_____ 知道在家好。

9. 他晚上十一点 _____ 回家。他妻子已经睡觉了。

10. 酒喝完了，你 _____ 知道，这个酒好不好。

11. 他太累了，晚上八点 _____ 睡觉了。

12. 去年比较冷，德国十月 _____ 下雪了。

13. 他四十岁 _____ 学会开车。

14. 他先工作了几年，三十五岁 _____ 上大学。

15. 李老师早上五点半 _____ 去公园运动。

16. 他很少回国，两三年 ______ 回去一次。

17. 他经常一年 ______ 回去两三次。

18. 她九岁 ______ 上学。

19. 她五岁 ______ 上学了。

20. 昨天她十点 ______ 起床。

21. 我等了半天车 ______ 来。

22. Bill来中国以前 ______ 学汉语了。

23. 她吃了两片药感冒 ______ 好了。

24. 他早 ______ 下班了。

25. Bob ______ 来上海半年，中文 ______ 已经说得不错了。

I'll post the correct answers in a comment.


eta: i found ten more... :)

Comments

[tinny]

Here are my solutions to the exercises. They were corrected by the teacher at the time, but I'm not 100% sure they're the only possible answers. :/ It sometimes just changes the meaning of the sentence.

solutions

1. 不到八点，你 ___就___ 要睡觉了。

2. 他来这个地方的时候，___才___ 十九岁。

3. 你想吃什么， 我 ___就___ 给你做什么。

4. 他每次一想到能去上课，___就___ 很高兴。

5. 我们公司的李小姐 ___才___ 到北京两天。

6. 都已经十点了，你怎么 ___才___ 来上课

7. 他教孩子学汉语的时候，孩子 ___才___ 两岁多。

8. 在外面工作了，___才/就___ 知道在家好。

9. 他晚上十一点 ___才___ 回家。他妻子已经睡觉了。

10. 酒喝完了，你 ___就___ 知道，这个酒好不好。

11. 他太累了，晚上八点 ___就___ 睡觉了。

12. 去年比较冷，德国十月 ___就___ 下雪了。

13. 他四十岁 ___才___ 学会开车。

14. 他先工作了几年，三十五岁 ___就___ 上大学。

15. 李老师早上五点半 ___就___ 去公园运动。

16. 他很少回国，两三年 ___才___ 回去一次。

17. 他经常一年 ___才___ 回去两三次。

18. 她九岁 ___才___ 上学。

19. 她五岁 ___就___ 上学了。

20. 昨天她十点 ___才___ 起床。

21. 我等了半天车 ___才___ 来。

22. Bill来中国以前 ___就___ 学汉语了。

23. 她吃了两片药感冒 ___就___ 好了。

24. 他早 ___就___ 下班了。

25. Bob ___才___ 来上海半年，中文 ___就___ 已经说得不错了。

[nnozomi]

Ooh, this is amazing! Thank you for typing it up, that must have taken forever. I haven't worked my way through the questions yet...tomorrow morning for sure... (I feel like I've learned 才 for "„just/only“, denoting the (low) number of something." as well, depending. Oh dear.)

[sakana17]

Thank you for this!

[grayswandir]

Huh, this is one of those cases where I've never actually thought of these words as similar! Though I do get confused about the meanings of 才 sometimes. It's not really used in Cantonese, so I don't run into it that much -- and in Canto there are two words with different meanings that translate to different usages of 才. There's 先 for "only then/not until," and there's 啱啱 for "just then/just now/only just." I usually think of the latter as translating to 刚才 or 刚刚 in Mandarin, so I get a bit confused about the fact that just 才 by itself can also mean that!

My answers to the exercise sheet are below, including my comments/questions about the ones where I got a different answer from the answer key. (Those ones are marked with a red question mark instead of a green checkmark.)

[Spoiler cut for answers.]

1. 不到八点，你 [就] 要睡觉了。 (Canto: 就) ✔️

2. 他来这个地方的时候，[才] 十九岁。 (Canto: 啱啱) ✔️

3. 你想吃什么， 我 [就] 给你做什么。 (Canto: 就) ✔️

4. 他每次一想到能去上课，[就] 很高兴。 (Canto: 就) ✔️

5. 我们公司的李小姐 [才] 到北京两天。 (Canto: 啱啱) ✔️

6. 都已经十点了，你怎么 [才] 来上课。 (Canto: 啱啱) ✔️

7. 他教孩子学汉语的时候，孩子 [才] 两岁多。 (Canto: 啱啱) ✔️

8. 在外面工作了， [才] 知道在家好。 (Canto: 先) ✔️

9. 他晚上十一点 [才] 回家。他妻子已经睡觉了。 (Canto: 先) ✔️

10. 酒喝完了，你 [就/才] 知道，这个酒好不好。 (Canto: 就/先) ❓ [I think this one can go either way, but the answer key says 就. I would think that with 才 it would mean "only after you finish drinking the wine will you know whether or not it's good wine," whereas with 就 it's simply "after you finish drinking the wine, you'll know whether or not it's good wine."]

11. 他太累了，晚上八点 [就] 睡觉了。 (Canto: 就) ✔️

12. 去年比较冷，德国十月 [就] 下雪了。 (Canto: 就) ✔️ [I got this one correct, but if I hadn't been limited to two possible answers, I think I would have guessed 已经 rather than 就.]

13. 他四十岁 [就/才] 学会开车。 (Canto: 就/先) ❓ [I got this one wrong because I read 四十 as 14 instead of 40. XDDD Oops. Still, obvious mistake notwithstanding, I think it could still go either way. With 才 it's the more expected meaning of "He didn't learn to drive until he was 40," but with 就 I think it would just be a more neutral "At 40, he learned to drive."]

14. 他先工作了几年，三十五岁 [才] 上大学。 (Canto: 先) ❓ [I said 才; the key says 就. I'm confused about why this one would be 就 and not 才. Isn't it "He first worked for a few years, and didn't start college until he was 35"? Surely starting college at 35 is also surprisingly late, in a similar way to learning to drive at 40? Am I missing something on this one?]

15. 李老师早上五点半 [就] 去公园运动。 (Canto: 就) ✔️

16. 他很少回国，两三年 [才] 回去一次。 (Canto: 先) ✔️ [I got this one correct, but I did find it confusing and wasn't sure about my answer. I guess the second part of the sentence means "only in two or three years will he go back (again)." I think I would have expected something like 两三年之后, or maybe like 两三年过去了, rather than just 两三年, which seems confusing by itself to me!]

17. 他经常一年 [就] 回去两三次。 (Canto: 就) ❓ [Apparently the right answer is 才? I'm confused about this one. I was thinking it meant "He usually goes back two or three times per year," which would surely be 就? I'm not sure what it would mean with 才. Is it "Usually he only goes back two or three times per year?" Like, usually only after a year will he have finally gone back just two or three times? It seems like this would depend on thinking that two or three trips back was surprisingly few?]

18. 她九岁 [才] 上学。 (Canto: 先) ✔️

19. 她五岁 [就] 上学了。 (Canto: 就) ✔️

20. 昨天她十点 [才] 起床。 (Canto: 先) ✔️ [I got this one correct, because it seems like we're supposed to assume that 10:00 is a late time to get up, but I think it could just as easily be 就 -- again, a difference between "Yesterday she didn't get up until 10:00" vs. "Yesterday she got up at 10:00."]

21. 我等了半天车 [才] 来。 (Canto: 先) ✔️

22. Bill来中国以前 [就] 学汉语了。 (Canto: 就) ✔️

23. 她吃了两片药感冒 [就] 好了。 (Canto: 就) ✔️

24. 他早 [就] 下班了。 (Canto: 就) ✔️

25. Bob [才] 来上海半年，中文 [就] 已经说得不错了。 (Canto: 啱啱, 就) ✔️

[trobadora]

Thank you so much for typing all this up!

I feel like I have a good enough grip on 就 that I should be able to get most of this right just by using 才 when 就 makes no sense; we'll see if I'm vastly overestimating my understanding, LOL!