TSUMUGU · TBCL 3 (est.) · 語法
才
grammar point · tier 1 · 才 only then; not until (the result comes late, after the condition)
· cái
Marks the second clause as reached only after the first is met: the result is later, harder, or smaller than one might expect.
Hook inherited from 才 .
Marks the second clause as reached only after the first is met
框 · Frame
[condition] ，[subj] 才 [result]
觸 · Trigger
The result holds off until a condition is met, and you want to mark it as later or harder than expected.
序 · The move
1 State the condition first as its own clause. Does the second clause depend on the first being satisfied?
2 Place 才 right before the verb of the result clause. Is 才 before the verb, not at the head of the clause?
3 Leave 了 off the 才 result clause. Did I avoid 才…了 for the bare "only then" reading?
4 Confirm direction: the result is late or hard, not early or easy. Would 就 flip it to early/easy? If so, 才 is the right one here.
例 · Examplesshown tap blur
1 學learn / study 語言language 要need to; must 多a lot of 練習practice ，才only then 能be able to 學得好learn it well 。
Learning a language takes a lot of practice; only then can you learn it well.
界 · Boundary
就 才 is the late, costly result: it comes only after the condition, and not before. 就 is the early, easy result: it follows right away. Same condition, opposite verdict on how soon it arrives.
一…就… 一…就… fires the result the instant the trigger lands. 才 withholds the result until the prerequisite is fully met.
才學語言能學得好 → 學語言要多練習，才能學得好 (put 才 before the result verb, after the condition clause)
練習了很多，就能學得好 → 練習了很多，才能學得好 (early/easy 就 misstates an effortful result that arrives only after the work)
多練習，才能學得好了 → 多練習，才能學得好 (no 了 on a bare 才 "only then" clause)
English "then" and "only then" sit at the clause front; 才 sits before the verb and stays inside the result clause.