就 — Adverb before the verb: a small or single slice of the whole already tallies a count higher than a listener would expect.

TSUMUGU · TBCL 3 (est.) · 語法

就 grammar point · tier 1 · 就 quantity-emphasis (this little already amounts to that much)

· jiù

Adverb before the verb: a small or single slice of the whole already tallies a count higher than a listener would expect.

Hook inherited from 就.

Adverb before the verb

框 · Frame

(光/只) [small scope] 就 [verb + large quantity]

觸 · Trigger

A small part already counts up to a surprising amount: stress the magnitude off the slim scope.

序 · The move

1Set the small scope, often opened with 光 or 只.Is the scope a slice the listener would read as minor?

2Put 就 before the verb of quantity, after the scope.Does 就 sit before the verb, not before the scope phrase?

3Read the count back against expectation.Is the tally higher than the slim scope led one to expect, not lower?

例 · Examples

1這條街有很多銀行，光這個路口just this one intersection就already, that many有四家there are four。

This street has many banks; at just this one intersection there are four.

界 · Boundary

才

就2 says this little already adds up to that much, more than expected; 才 says only this much, less than expected. Same count, opposite verdict.

就1

就1 scales time: the action lands right behind the first event. 就2 scales amount: a small scope already reaches a high count. Same char, different axis.

連…都…

連…都… includes the hardest single case so the rest follow; 就2 totals a high count off a narrow scope, stressing the number, not inclusion.

這個路口就四家。 (no scope-marker, reads as bare promptness/only) → 光這個路口就有四家。 (just this intersection already gives four)

光這個路口有四家就。 → 光這個路口就有四家。 (就 sits before the verb, never trails the count)

光這個路口才有四家。 (才 = only four, fewer than hoped) → 光這個路口就有四家。 (就 = four already, more than expected)

English carries this with 'alone' or 'already' attached to the scope ("this corner alone has four"); 就 is fixed before the verb of quantity, not next to the noun, and never opens the clause.