Let’s look at a word that is VERY common in Mandarin, but tricky to translate into English.
It’ll be great if you learn how to use it – it will help you sound more natural:
是 jiù shì!
1. Use 就是 to begin a phrase.
“- Why didn’t you call me? – Well.. you know.. It’s just that I…”
All that mumbling translates into “我就是…”. And wins you time.
2. Use 就是 as “just”.
Makes a phrase sound more casual:
我就是想问一下 Wǒ jiùshì xiǎng wèn yīxià – I just wanted to ask…
我就是这个意思 Wǒ jiùshì zhège yìsi – I mean just…
3. Use 就是 whenever you explain things.
“What kind of phone is this? – It’s a new Xiaomi!” (这就是…)
“Who’s Jon Snow?! – He is a…” (他就是…)
4. Use 就是 as “exactly”.
This is exactly what I wanted! This is exactly what I mean!
就是这样 Jiùshì zhèyàng – Exactly like that!
So you see, it’s a fun word – sometimes it doesn’t even translate into English！
Are there similar words in other languages?
@bamboochee haha😊 it is!! it’s not much fun to learn, but I honestly can’t imagine Chinese language without it! If someone asked you to pick one word that represents the whole language, what would it be??:)
Wow this is a tricky question really! Never thought about that😅 I’ll nominate 的 and 吗 first. Have you asked other people?
@yourmandarin one word that illustrates the complexity of the language: 了。Master it and you have mastered Chinese. And no, I have not even come close.
@bamboochee @morganhargett these are great ones! I always thought of 就是 for the spoken language, but it’s because I forgot about 了 too! It definitely wins – even more common and less translatable😅
@yourmandarin ..one more,..那个 ：D
@yourmandarin 就是 :p
bamboochee
Love your explanation! I think it’s one of the most confusing Chinese words for foreigners😅