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  <p>Adverbs 就 and 才 with time words and numbers</p>
  <p>The adverbs 就 jiù and 才 cái serve many functions in sentences,
  and this section will</p>
  <p>introduce two particular usages. 就 jiù and 才 cái should be
  placed before verbs in</p>
  <p>sentences. The use of 就 jiù or 才 cái expresses the notion that
  the timing of an event is</p>
  <p>earlier or later than expected. Let us look at how these
  adverbs are used in the following</p>
  <p>sentences.</p>
  <p>小</p>
  <p>丁 今 天 八 点</p>
  <p>睡 觉 了。</p>
  <p>Xiăodīng jīntiān bā diăn shuìjiàole</p>
  <p>Xiao Ding went to bed at eight o’clock.</p>
  <p>The above sentence relates the fact that the action of going
  to sleep happened at eight o‟clock,</p>
  <p>but by using the adverb 就 jiù, the sentence becomes:</p>
  <p>小</p>
  <p>丁 今 天</p>
  <p>八 点 就 睡 觉 了。</p>
  <p>Xiăodīng jīntiān bā diăn jiù shuìjiàole</p>
  <p>Xiao Ding went to bed (as early as) eight o’clock.</p>
  <p>As you can see, the adverb 就 jiù is placed before the verb 睡
  shuì to sleep in the above</p>
  <p>sentence. 就 jiù is used to comment on the preceding time
  expression 八点 bā diăn eight</p>
  <p>o’clock, and indicates that it was earlier than the speaker
  expected. In other words, the speaker</p>
  <p>is expecting Xiao Ding to go to sleep after eight o‟clock.</p>
  <p>小</p>
  <p>丁 今 天 八 点 才 睡 觉。</p>
  <p>Xiăodīng jīntiān bā diăn cái shuìjiào</p>
  <p>Xiao Ding only went to bed at eight o’clock. (Lit Xiao Ding
  went to bed as late as eight</p>
  <p>o’clock.)</p>
  <p>The adverb 才 cái implies “only then”. In other words, the
  speaker is expecting Xiao Ding to</p>
  <p>61Elementary Chinese Grammar 基础汉语语法</p>
  <p>2011</p>
  <p>go to sleep before eight o‟clock. Notice that in addition to
  the adverb 就 jiù being replaced</p>
  <p>by 才 cái, the end of sentence particle 了 le has also
  disappeared in the above sentence.</p>
  <p>就 jiù or 才 cái can also be used to express a view on a number
  that is smaller or bigger than</p>
  <p>expected. Let us see the effect that the adverbs 就 jiù and 才
  cái have on the following</p>
  <p>sentences.</p>
  <p>他 用</p>
  <p>两</p>
  <p>个 小 时</p>
  <p>作 了 一顿 中</p>
  <p>国</p>
  <p>菜。</p>
  <p>tā yòng liăng ge xiăoshí zhuò le yídùn zhōngguó cài.</p>
  <p>He took two hours to cook a Chinese meal. (Lit He used two
  hours....)</p>
  <p>The adverbs 就 jiù and 才 cái are not used in the above
  sentence. The sentence only states</p>
  <p>the fact that it has taken him two hours to cook a Chinese
  meal. However, if 就 jiù is added to</p>
  <p>the above sentence, it becomes:</p>
  <p>他 用</p>
  <p>两</p>
  <p>个 小 时 就 作</p>
  <p>了 一顿 中</p>
  <p>国 菜。</p>
  <p>tā yòng liăng ge xiăoshí jiù zhuò le yídùn zhōngguó cài.</p>
  <p>It only took him two hours to cook a Chinese meal. (Lit It
  took him as little as two hours to</p>
  <p>cook a Chinese meal.)</p>
  <p>就 jiù is used to comment on the preceding period of time 两个小时
  liăng ge xiăoshí two</p>
  <p>hours. The speaker thinks that two hours is a short length of
  time. However, if 才 cái is used</p>
  <p>instead, as demonstrated below, the sentence has a different
  implication, although the</p>
  <p>meaning is similar.</p>
  <p>他 用</p>
  <p>两</p>
  <p>个 小 时</p>
  <p>才 作</p>
  <p>了 一顿 中</p>
  <p>国</p>
  <p>菜。</p>
  <p>tā yòng liăng ge xiăoshí cái zhuò le yídùn zhōngguó cài.</p>
  <p>He only finished cooking a Chinese meal after two hours. (Lit
  It took him as long as two</p>
  <p>hours to cook a Chinese meal.)</p>
  <p>By using the adverb 才 cái in the above sentence, the speaker
  shows that he thinks that the</p>
  <p>preceding two hour period of time is of short length. The
  sentence implies that it took him as</p>
  <p>62Elementary Chinese Grammar 基础汉语语法</p>
  <p>2011</p>
  <p>long as two hours to cook the meal.</p>
  <p>When using the adverbs 就 jiù and 才 cái, one must remember the
  following points.</p>
  <p>1. 就 jiù and 才 cái must be placed before verbs</p>
  <p>2. 就 jiù or 才 cái can be used to comment on preceding time
  words and number words</p>
  <p>which are earlier and smaller or later and larger than
  expected.</p>
  <p>3. The end of sentence particle 了 le is not used when 才 cái is
  used.</p>
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