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就 is one of the most widely used word. From secondary school english student point of view/ general usage/ HSK exam point of view what are the 3 most meanings that covers by usage?

dictionary has 20+ meanings, it is confusing me rather than giving the meaning. the 22 meanings as per pleco are

1 at once

2 right away

3 only

4 just (emphasis)

5 as early as

6 already

7 as soon as

8 then

9 in that case

10 as many as

11 even if

12 to approach

13 to move towards

14 to undertake

15 to engage in

16 to suffer

17 subjected to

18 to accomplish

19 to take advantage of

20 to go with (of foods)

21 with regard to

22 concerning

what are major 3 meanings as per your usage.

Edit: I am updating my Anki entry as below.

  1. then, to move towards, even if, so
  2. soon, right away, as soon as
  3. just, only
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    Maybe only, just are top 2.
    – Zhang
    Apr 12, 2021 at 3:46

3 Answers 3

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  1. Chinese Grammar Wiki classifies the use of 就 into A2, B1, B2, and C1 levels (from easiest to hardest). Begin with the easiest level (就 as 'then', i.e. your 8th entry) – I believe this is its commonest use. Do not bother with harder uses of 就 (e.g. your 21st/22nd entry, which is labelled level B2 on the site) for the time being.

  2. Sometimes you need to learn 就 as part of a word to make sense. E.g.: 就算 (your 11th entry), 就近 (your 13th entry). Sometimes, as part of a sentence construction, e.g., 一～就～ (your 7th entry).

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    thanks for beautiful explanation of basic meaning “then” and pointing to additional details and routing me to grammer wiki.
    – user27485
    Apr 12, 2021 at 2:35
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  1. 我就回来。就=soon. I will come back soon.
  2. 某事一发生，就会引起某种后果。 就=lead to When something happens, it leads to some consequences.
  3. 就一次 = 就只有一次 = just once. 就=just
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  • user27937, I updated the main post with 22 meanings given by CC dictionary. 7)as soon as, 17) subjected to, 4)just (emphasis) from the above list you used 90% of the time. that is my understanding. (as there is no lead to, i used subjected to from the list). thanks
    – user27485
    Apr 12, 2021 at 1:09
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    @user27485 user27937's first example corresponds to your 2nd entry. Your 7th entry corresponds to the sentence construction 一～就～.
    – L Parker
    Apr 12, 2021 at 1:29
  • 我就回来 literally “I right away come return back” = i will return/come back right away. Thanks Parker for your advise/ correcting it.
    – user27485
    Apr 12, 2021 at 2:33
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While studying Chinese, i came across these usages most:

  1. Exactly 谁是陈老师? 就是我！
  2. Just 别太认真，他就跟你开玩笑
  3. Time is short/ soon (speaker thinks its a short time) 他再过五分钟就来
  4. So 学生不来，老师就不能上课。
  5. 就要。。。了 （soon） 就要下课了。 Note, that here, you cant write 昨天 , because it's so soon, it can't be tomorrow.
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  • Arusyak, 就是 jiùshì precisely, exactly ::: the first sentence and 5 th sentence seems compound words as they have separate entries in dictionary;;; 就要 jiùyào to be going to, will, shall;;; thanks for sharing
    – user27485
    Apr 12, 2021 at 10:45

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