Why do these sentences mean the same thing?

[eya323]

I am focusing so much lately on reviewing old vocabulary and increasing my reading, speaking, and listening skills that grammar review has fallen by the wayside. I pulled out my Shaum's Outline of Chinese Grammar and am reviewing chapter 6, which is about sentence suffixes.

If anyone has the book, my question is about the example on page 126.

If you don't have the book, my question is about why these three sentences mean the same thing:

我下了课回家去。

我下了课就回家去。

我下了课以后就回家去。

The book translates them as having the same meaning in English. Is this accurate or does each sentence have its own nuanced meaning that is slightly different than the others? If they are exactly the same, is one sentence more common than the other to use when speaking? When writing?

Thanks!

[anonymoose]

I think essentially they mean the same thing, but if you wish the translate them word for word, then they would be something like:

我下了课回家去。 (When) I've finished class, I'm going home.

我下了课就回家去。 (When) I've finished class, then I'm going home.

我下了课以后就回家去。 After I've finished class, then I'm going home.

[taylor04]

So many combinations I can think of! Did you know you could also simply say...

我下课回家

[eya323]

@anonymoose - Thanks for the help. That clears up the nuances question. Is any form more common in written or spoken?

@taylor04 - It seems like in spoken Chinese and if the context were known to be in the past, your example would be common usage, yes?

[chrix]

我下课回家

I think this would sound rather incomplete, but I'll defer to native speakers for judgment.

[xiaocai]

我下课回家

I can't say that it is wrong, but it would be quite hard to figure out what actually it means without any context.

[chrix]

as opposed to the other three brought up by the OP?

[xiaocai]

Actually two, because 我下了课回家去 also sounds quite ambiguous (and a bit strange) as well.

[LongwenChinese]

我下了课就回家去emphasizes that "as soon as" I get out of class, I will go home. It is something you would say to your parents when they call you from work urging you to go home.

[taylor04]

I'm certainly not an expert, but as my grammar teacher taught me over a year ago(so I might have messed it up) you can put two actions together to create the meaning of as soon as I do this I will do that. Personally, I've taken the spoken Chinese approach so my formal Chinese isn't very good. The way I understand 我下课回家 (depending on situation) would mean, "As soon as I finish class, I'm going home". Context is important, important because it could have a lot of meanings. Perhaps I'm wrong, so if a native speaker could correct me that'd be great. I used to use this sentence structure and hear it a lot too. 我下班回家 (get off work and go home) had 86 million hits on google so the structure itself isn't wrong, I just hope I've been using it right:)

[chrix]

I've had a look at the first google hits (of only 663K, not 86 million), and I've noticed that many of these hits have 我下班回家 not just in isolation, but followed by some particle, or followed by other clauses. So I think what has been said in this thread is still valid, as the claim was that just 我下班回家 would be strange/incomplete without any context.

[skylee]

somehow I am reminded that 兩情若是久長時　又豈在朝朝暮暮 = 情若久長　豈在朝暮 ...

[yzy19880801]

these 3 examples, for a native speaker like me, are different.

Essentially, they all mean that i am going home after school, but

我下了课回家去。 it emphasizes the acting of going home,

我下了课就回家去。

我下了课以后就回家去 these two have the same meaning that it emphasizes that AS SOON AS I finish school, i am going home, not the action of going home.

example, where/what are you going (to do) after school? proper answer is first sentence.

when are you going home? then, the answer is last two sine you wanna address the TIME u go home...

Interchangale? no....for my perspective.