HSK 2 · Time

就 jiù “then” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 就 means

  1. then, just
  2. (after a suppositional clause) in that case
  3. (after a clause of action) as soon as
  4. immediately after
  5. (same as 就是) merely
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • nothing else but
  • simply
  • precisely
  • exactly
  • only
  • as little as

How to say 就

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale就jiù4th tone, falling

就 in a sentence

  1. 如果明天下雨，我就不去。

    Rúguǒ míngtiān xiàyǔ, wǒ jiù bú qù.

    If it rains tomorrow, I won’t go.

    Sentence #894851 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 你一准备好，我们就走。

    Nǐ yì zhǔnbèi hǎo, wǒmen jiù zǒu.

    We’ll leave as soon as you’re ready.

    Sentence #7771875 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 我们现在就去医院吧。

    Wǒmen xiànzài jiù qù yīyuàn ba.

    Let’s go to the hospital right now.

    Sentence #5856761 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 就 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 就 (jiù) with each of its parts in a different colour
就jiùin that case; then
  • 京capital city · jīngSound part
  • 尤especially · yóuMeaning part

尤 hints at the meaning (especially); 京 (jīng) hints at the sound. Compare it with jiù.

How to write 就

就 12 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

就 (jiù) stroke order chart: each stroke of the character in the order you write it
Stroke order chart for 就 (jiù). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 就

Words with 就

就要jiùyào · about to就是jiùshì · exactly成就chéngjiù · accomplishment就近jiùjìn · nearby将就jiāngjiu · to make do迁就qiānjiù · to accommodate就业jiùyè · employment就职jiùzhí · to take office

More words: Time

一起yìqǐ · together已经yǐjīng · already正在zhèngzài · in the process of还hái · still半bàn · half春chūn · spring season当然dāngrán · of course冬dōng · winter

FAQs

就 (jiù) means “then, just” or “(after a suppositional clause) in that case”. It is an HSK 2 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it jiù: jiù with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 就 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type jiu with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 就 from the suggestions. Typing jiu into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
就 is an HSK 2 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.