meaning of 就

[Iori Yagami]

Hi

What is the meaning of 就 in that sentence: 我爸爸从前天开始就咳嗽，发烧。

Without 就 will the meaning of the sentence remain the same ?

[Qiao20]

"The function of '就' is to emphasize. For example, when someone asks, 'Who is Mr. Wang?', the response '我就是' means 'It is me, not anyone else.'

In your question, '就' also serves as an emphasis, more like the meaning of 'already.' It emphasizes that my dad started coughing three days ago（already）, not just starting today.

The context in which it is used may vary. For example, if a doctor asks, 'Did your dad just start coughing today?', you can use the sentence in your question to reply（我爸爸从前天开始就咳嗽，发烧。）, meaning 'It was three days ago, not today.' 

However, if the doctor asks, 'When did your dad start coughing and having a fever?', you can answer without '就' in the sentence, just saying that it started three days ago（我爸爸从前天开始咳嗽，发烧。）, which means you can remove '就'."

[piano0011]

I am interested to know and will reply here but might make a new post if nobody reply.... can you add jiu4 after kai1shi3 or can you add jiu4 after wo baba jiu?

 

我爸爸从前天开始就咳嗽，发烧

[cncorrect]

On 1/7/2024 at 1:05 PM, piano0011 said:

can you add jiu4 after kai1shi3

Yes, I can.

On 1/7/2024 at 1:05 PM, piano0011 said:

can you add jiu4 after wo baba jiu?

Yes, I can.

 

You can translate '就' as 'just'.

[piano0011]

thanks!