Unclear use for 就 - 'Flexible Use of Interrogative Pronouns'

[Guest]

I'm currently working through a lesson in my textbook and it's thrown up a really peculiar use of 就。 I've had a look around a few threads on the forum regarding the word, but haven't found an explanation for its use here. I'll copy out my textbook's explanation of this point and the accompanying example sentences - I'm not certain as to what they mean.

 

"In Chinese, 就 can be used between two of the same interrogative pronouns, in which case the interrogative pronouns, rather than being interrogative, refer to the same indefinite person, object or manner. When the two clauses of a sentence share one subject, the subject of the second clause can be left out; when the two clauses have different subjects, the second subject is put right before 就。For example:

 

1) 买什么东西便宜我就买什么。

2) 你坐哪儿我就坐哪儿。

3) 谁喜欢他他就喜欢谁。 “

 

 

I feel that this explanation is relatively clear - explicit in how to use 就 here - but I'm still left uncertain as to what the examples are supposed to translate to exactly. In my mind for Example 2, I'm reading "where will you sit, where will I sit?" but the lack of interrogation seems to make that wrong. I have a hunch that the equivalent in English would be "wherever you sit, I'll sit too" but I'm unsure. 

 

Any help here would be appreciated.

[realmayo]

First you need to understand a special usage of these pronouns. Which means that here, 你坐哪儿,... = wherever you sit. 谁 in (3) is whoever, 什么 in (1) is whatever

 

Edit: I missed part of your post: yes your hunch was right. I think that that particular usage (whatever/whoever/etc-ever) is a bigger grammar point than the use of 就 here, which to me is just used for emphasis (although it could be that the sentence would be wrong or would feel wrong if the 就 was absent, I don't know).

[roddy]

You're usually looking at a 'wh__ever' 

1) I'll just buy whatever's cheap.

2) I'll sit wherever you sit.

3) He just likes whoever likes him.

[Guest]

You're both amazing. Take my likes. Take 'em all. Cheers!