The use of 便

[ouyangjun]

Quick question.  The use of the word 便 when taking the definition similar to 就, eg. "说了便做".  

 

My understanding is that the meaning is the equivalent of 就, and I often see it in written Chinese (cannot recall hearing it in colloquial Chinese).  My question is, are there any differences between 便 and 就 other than one being more colloquial than the other?  In written Chinese is it always acceptable to swap 便 and 就?

 

Thanks

[Carl Chen]

You are right. Like in your example, the use of 便 equals to 就.

 

就 is more colloquial.

[OneEye]

No, it isn't completely equal to 就. You can say 就我而言, for instance, but you can't say 便我而言.

[陳德聰]

Yeah, you cannot replace 就 with 便 in sentences where 就 marks the target of an action rather than the sequence of events. It doesn't work when 就 is a verb either, as in 就读 or 就职.