The uses of 就?
EmmaLouise1
December 18, 2009, 10:26 AM posted in General DiscussionI came across it in a Chinese book but couldn't work out it's meaning in context. I've head it's quite the pesky character and has numerous meanings. I looked for a past Qing Wen on it but couldn't find one. But I'm sure there was a recent Qing Wen on 就?
Could someone please give me a few pointers about 就?
Emma ^.^
EmmaLouise1
December 18, 2009, 11:41 AMThanks organgina ^.^ I guess that makes sense. The biggest problem I have with learning Mandarin is that I'll see a new character/word and just completely freak out and panic that I won't be able to figure it out, it's too complicated, too many meanings, I'm not ready, no way could a Newbie like me could handle things like that! But I guess I've just got to take things slowly and what really helped me was when you said about finding what the character's different meanings have in common and a bit of simplification. I think I definitely have the habit of over complicating things!
orangina
December 18, 2009, 11:53 AM:-D I can over complicate things too... Your enthusiasm to learn is infectious! That is fantastic!
EmmaLouise1
December 18, 2009, 12:08 PMhehe thank you! ^.^ I just can't wait for the day I can actually have a proper conversation with my Chinese friends! At the moment, I've resulted to eavesdropping! :P hehe it kinda freaks them out a bit when I can repeat and translate things they just said :P Just not much worth knowing >.< Only stuff like 朋友, 冰淇淋 and 我没有! hehe I'm sure they both talk about things they shouldn't in our art lessons! It's just no one can notice or understand! hehe
orangina
December 18, 2009, 12:19 PMhaha! I can't wait till I can have a proper conversation with my Chinese friends either, and I often eavesdrop on strangers.
EmmaLouise1
December 18, 2009, 12:34 PMhehe, little do they know! :P I was in Hong Kong and there was two elderly men in the lift who were (most likely!) talking about me and my family! They definitely talked about "gwai lo" (cantonese for "ghost man", a common racist term in HK). You can't say racism is non-existant in HK but it's just something you have to put up with but it definitely happens few and far between, which I don't mind so much. It's usually the more ignorant/older generation who use the term. I was talking to my Cantonese friend about it at school and she became quite uncomfortable talking about the term but she assured me very few young people use it now as they've become more accepting of the vast mixed-race society in HK.
So yes, eavesdropping is certainly very revealing! haha
orangina
December 18, 2009, 11:22 AMWhen I put 就 in nciku it listed 17 definitions. The comminality I saw was that 就 intesified whatever else was being said. A bit of an oversimplification to be sure, but a place to start in grasping this slippery, very common word. Just remember, nciku doesn't have 17 definitions because 就 exactly corrisponds to 17 english words, but because it doesn't exactly corrispond to even one.