就 vs 才

[benotnobody]

I hope this doesn't sound ignorant, but could someone please explain, in a little more detail, the difference between 就 and 才? (In the context of meaning something like 'then' or 'next', not 'only', if you catch my drift.)

I was under the impression that 就suggests quickness of the act, as opposed to 才， which implies slowness of an act. However, my textbook states that 就 suggests ease of an act, while 才 suggests difficulty of an act. My teacher maintains that both of these are correct. The distinction between the two seems a little blurry.

[Quest]

quickness: 你怎么这么快就做完了作业。(exceeds expectation/easy)

slowness: 你怎么这么久才回来。(slower/worse than expected/difficult)

[xuechengfeng]

I believe 才is used after the first verb and before the second, to imply that after V1 was completed, only then did V2 occur.

比如﹕

我說了三次﹐他才聽見。

My book also says it's never used with le following 2nd verb.

就 Has many uses, along with 要,會 which are completely lost on me, and maybe someone can explain in here

[skylee]

Compare -

1. 我說了三遍﹐他才明白。 (I told him something which was easy but I had to repeat three times before he got it.) (like Quest said, slower/worse than expected/difficult)

2. 我說了三遍﹐他就/便明白了。 (I told him something which was not so easy but he understood it after I had only repeated three times.) (exceeds expectation/easy)

就要 - if one thing is to happen, then another thing has to happen/be done first

e.g. 要學好中文，就要/得多練習。 OR 想我跟你結婚，就要/得送我大大的鑽戒。

就會 - if one thing happens, then another thing will also happen

e.g. 多練習，中文就會說得好。 OR 我送她大大的鑽戒，她就會跟我結婚。

[HashiriKata]

You may find this helps:

就 : ONLY...AND..

才: NOT UNTIL...

skylee's examples above can therefore be translated as:

就: I only said 3 times and he understood it.

才: Not until I said 3 times that he understood it.

Most pairs of contrasts between the 2 will also work similarly. Try it and see or try translating these:

It was ONLY 8 AND he was there already.(就)

He was NOT there UNTIL 8.(才)