才 — Sits before a quantity to mark it as small, low, or short of what was expected: only, merely.

grammar → 才

TSUMUGU · TBCL 3 (est.) · 語法

才 grammar point · tier 1 · scalar 才 (only / merely — a number falls short of expectation)

· cái

Sits before a quantity to mark it as small, low, or short of what was expected: only, merely.

Hook inherited from 才.

Sits before a quantity to mark it as small, low, or short of what was expected

框 · Frame

[subj] 才 [number + measure / quantity]

觸 · Trigger

A figure lands lower than someone assumed, and you mark how little it is.

序 · The move

1Find the quantity the listener over-estimated.Is the real number smaller than expected?

2Drop 才 right before that number.才 leans on the quantity, not the verb.

3Leave the number bare after 才.No 了 closes it — 才 keeps the value held low, not finished.

例 · Examples

1我上次last time見到saw / caught sight of你的時候when / at the time，你才only (so small)十一歲eleven years old。

Last time I saw you, you were only eleven.

界 · Boundary

就 (scalar 就)

才 marks the number as low, short of expectation (才十一歲 = only eleven). 就 marks it as high, more than expected (就十一歲了 = eleven already). Same age, opposite verdict: 才 points the slope down, 就 points it up.

只 (只)

只 restricts to this item and no other (只買一個 = bought one and nothing else). 才 judges the amount itself as too small. 只 counts; 才 grades.

你十一歲。(flat, no judgement) → 你才十一歲。(only eleven, surprisingly young)

你才十一歲了。 → 你才十一歲。(no 了 — 才 holds the value low, it does not close the count)

他才有三本書。(a mere three, judged too few) → 他只有三本書。(plain restriction: only three, nothing more)

English 'only' covers both the low-amount sense and the restriction sense, so learners reach for 才 where 只 is meant. 才 carries a verdict that the number is too small; 只 simply fences off everything else.