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Lesson 17 – Elementary – Learning the Application of Chinese Words 就 and 才

During the process of reading, the foreigners who study in intensive Mandarin course in China may often see the words 就、才、再and又but difficult to tell them apart and use correctly. in order to practice the application of these words, several reading exercises are provided for the learners to fill with the proper words from 就、才、再and又.

In the sentence爸爸每天都很晚 下班,今天下午五点 下班了, the former part means come off work late while the later indicates as early as at five o’clock. Accordingly, the first part has the tone of “until” while the second part means “as soon as”. Therefore, the two blanks should be filled with 才and就respectively. With the meaning of “as soon as”, 就can be applied to fill the blank in the sentence 明天我下了课 去看他, meaning “I will see him as soon as I finish my class tomorrow”.

In the same way, it would be easier for those who study in qualified Mandarin program to fill the blanks in the example你怎么现在 来,晚会早 开始了, which carries the tone that the party has begun when him arrived. We should put 才and就in order. In the second part, 就has the tone of “already”.

Both 再and又have the same meaning of “again”. But when it comes to the questions, we often use the former one. For example,您的话我没听懂,请您再说一遍,好吗?If you intend to express the meaning of “again” in declarative sentence, 又is often used such as上星期我已经买了一本,今天我又买了一本.

If the foreign students who study Mandarin online want to master the application of the four words, they should practice more in the actual use. A good method is to read more sentences that include the usage of both language points. For example, 老师 说了一遍,我 听懂. It means I don‘t understand the teacher until he speaks it again. Therefore, it should be 又and才.
 

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