Character identification

[xNagrien]

Hello all,

I am a beginner chinese learner. While playing a computer game I meet whith the character showed in the attachment. Somebody can tell me what character is?

Sorry if the question is too basic, but I want to learn....

Greetings

[Elainemoon]

it's jiu, read as the falling tone. Is that clear?

Chinese characters look very complicated but actully they have regulations. Dont be scary of them, haha.

If you are curious of them, you may choose to know the history and changes of chinese characters firstly. After that, you may have a better understanding of characters,especially the images.

[ann_snow]

Is that '就'，if it is, it should be 'jiu' in pinyin, we always use it as a adverb, so it can not appear alone.

for example,

when it express a future tense, we will use it

'他就要来了' 'He is coming'. which means 'right away, at once'

'我就快做完作业了，等我一会' 'i am going to finish my homework, please wait for a moment'， which means 'right away, at once'

otherwise, it has a lot of meanings, when it express 'only'

'我就（有）两本书'，'I have only two books',

'就这件事来讲，你是错的' 'you are wrong in this case'

I don't play computer game so i don't know if there is another character with it. the character you encountered is a word including so many meanings, which also can be a verb. if there is more information, maybe i can help you more.

[adrianlondon]

It looks like 就 but with the top-left "dot" (it's actually a short line) missing.

Anyway, assuming it is that character, then it's like to mean "move this way" or "move towards".

[ann_snow]

sorry, i didn't notice that, it's my fault.

[adrianlondon]

Not your fault at all! And I'm no expert; I just picked the most likely meaning when reading the entry in my dictionary

[ann_snow]

Thank you, anyway, i will be very sorry if i misguide him. then I will be careful when I post next time.

[adrianlondon]

I enjoyed your "jiu" lesson. It's one of those words which is easy for me to just (jiu! haha) forget about and not use; however, sprinkling it in my sentences here and there helps them sound more natural.

[ann_snow]

It's my pleasure to help you in your Chinese, I will give you correct answer as possible as I can.

[xNagrien]

Hello,

Thanks to all for trying to help me. I have more info. The phrase where I found the character was something like this...

就是 XXX.

The character was in the first place, and it was followed by 是. I don't remember what characters were XXX.

I don't know if this info is usefull, I will search what characters where XXX.

Greetings

Greetings

[adrianlondon]

就是 could mean something like "it's just/only ...". The XXX that you can't remember are the important characters ;)

[Quest]

Please see: http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/3036-grammar-1-%e5%b0%b1

You hit one of the most subtle grammatical particles in the Chinese language.

[ann_snow]

In this sentence, It is an adverb, have a little bit emphasis on some word after it, for example

'就是你了，别看别人' It was you, don't look the others.

'就是他，别让他跑了' It was him, dont't let him run away.

'就是在这个地方，我和他第一次认识' It was in this place, where I meet him.

‘就’is one of the most character which has a lot of meanings in Chinese.

just like what I've mentioned above. we can not translate directly into english sometimes, because it maybe indicate some relationship between the first and the latter, or just a little bit emphasis or express a tense of a sentence.

hope it can help you

[xNagrien]

Hello all,

Thanks all for the help.

I found another phrase, in other game where the same character appears. The attached image now contains the complete phrase.

I hope now you can confirm the character is 就 or not.

Greetings

[adrianlondon]

走掉么

"zou diao me"?

I've just learnt that "zou diao" means to depart (thanks, dictionary) but is the "么" used here instead of "吗"?

[Quest]

I hope now you can confirm the character is 就 or not.

I don't think there was any doubt that the character you originally posted was 就。They were just trying to explain to you what 就 meant, and it wasn't easy.

I've just learnt that "zou diao" means to depart (thanks, dictionary) but is the "么" used here instead of "吗"?

"zou diao" means "to leave without traces and leave everything behind"

[xNagrien]

Hello,

Thanks all for the explanations, I learn a lot in this thread. I post the second image because in the first one appears only the character, and in the second one appears a complete phrase. I am a beginner, and I didn't know if this character was similar to another.

Now, all is clear for me. I really appreciate your help.

Greetings

[bredmond812陈秉劲]

another example of this character's use is 就 (jiu4) vs. 才 (cai2).

both words in this context mean roughly the same as "then", but dont confuse it with 然后 (ran2hou4)

jiu is used in a sentence to indicate something that came sooner than expected:

我九点钟就有课. (i have class as early as nine o'clock; at nine oclock, i then have class, which comes kind of early.)

我九点钟才有课. (i have class as late as nine o'clock; at nine oclock, i then have class, which comes kind of late.)

i hope my chinese text works here on this site. it doesnt work on other sites. I also hope that my grammer is correct.

陈秉劲

[Lugubert]

I've just learnt that "zou diao" means to depart (thanks, dictionary) but is the "么" used here instead of "吗"?

I recently read a text by Lu Xun. Example: “孔乙己，你当真认识字么？" 'Kong YiJi, do you really know how to read?" There were many more 么 very clearly for 吗. I don't remember if we were told that this was an older usage or regional or just a personal preference of the writer.

[gougou]

is the "么" used here instead of "吗"?

See here