就 and 才 Before the Verb: 4,166 Clauses
Answering: “difference between jiu and cai”
Updated 2026-09-26 · plain text · JSON
就 says the second thing followed at once or more readily than expected; 才 says it took longer or more than expected. Both stand immediately before the verb.
- HSK level
- 2
- derived from its own words
- In the Bible
- 4,166
- clauses
- Meet it first in
- Genesis
- where it is commonest
- How sure
- Counted
- 97% of a checked sample
Practise it
Tap the words that carry the pattern.
，。
The same verses, in full
Easiest first: ranked by how much of each verse sits at or below HSK 2, the point’s own level. Colours are tones. Nothing here was written for the page — every line is in the text.
那nà人rén就jiù起来qǐ lái，回家huí jiā去qù了le。
He arose and departed to his house.
Matthew 9:7 · 100% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
我们wǒ men上shàng了le船chuán，他们tā men就jiù回家huí jiā去qù了le。
After saying goodbye to each other, we went on board the ship, and they returned home again.
Acts 21:6 · 100% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
他们tā men就jiù问wèn他tā说shuō：「他tā向xiàng你nǐ做zuò什么shén me？是shì怎么zěn me开kāi了le你nǐ的de眼睛yǎn jing呢ne？」
They said to him again, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”
John 9:26 · 100% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
他们tā men若ruò对duì我们wǒ men说shuō：『你们nǐ men站住zhàn zhù，等děng我们wǒ men到dào你们nǐ men那里nà li去qù』，我们wǒ men就jiù站住zhàn zhù，不bú上shàng他们tā men那里nà li去qù。
If they say this to us, ‘Wait until we come to you!’ then we will stand still in our place and will not go up to them.
1 Samuel 14:9 · 95% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
就jiù对duì那nà人rén说shuō：「起来qǐ lái，走zǒu吧ba！你nǐ的de信xìn救jiù了le你nǐ了le。」
Then he said to him, “Get up, and go your way. Your faith has healed you.”
Luke 17:19 · 93% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
旁边páng biān站zhàn着zhe的de人rén，有的yǒu de听见tīng jiàn就jiù说shuō：「看kàn哪nǎ，他tā叫jiào以利亚yǐ lì yà呢ne！」
Some of those who stood by, when they heard it, said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.”
Mark 15:35 · 93% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
Go and meet it in the text
- Read Matthew 9 — where the first example above comes from, with every word tappable.
- The rest of HSK 2 grammar — the other points at this level, with their counts.
- The HSK 2 word deck — the vocabulary side, ordered by how often the Bible uses it.
What the Bible does with it
就 and 才 are a matched pair with nothing between them in English. 就 says the next thing followed at once, or more easily than you would think; 才 says it took longer, or more, than you would think. Neither translates to a word — they translate to a shrug of expectation.
The Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified) uses 就 5,798 times, 才 184 times. 1,816 of those occurrences are the same words doing something else.
In narrative, 就 is the connective tissue of the whole Old Testament: 亚伦就去, so Aaron went; 他们就说, then they said. A reader who treats it as then and moves on will read the historical books at speed, and will be right most of the time.
It is commonest in Genesis, with 331 of them, and 64% of all of them fall in the Old Testament — which is mostly a statement about length, since the Old Testament is the longer part of the book.
| Word | Reading | HSK | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|
| 就 | jiù | 1 | 5,798 |
| 才 | cái | 2 | 184 |
The HSK column is the level data/dict.json gives the word, and it is what puts this point at level 2.
| Occurrences | Share | |
|---|---|---|
| the construction | 4,166 | 70% |
| the same words doing something else | 1,816 | 30% |
| Book | Clauses |
|---|---|
| Genesis | 331 |
| Luke | 266 |
| Matthew | 253 |
| Acts | 234 |
| John | 221 |
Counted from what the rule matched, before the audit — a ranking, not a published total.
Counted
The rule: 就 or 才 immediately before a word with a verb sense.
30 of 4,166 matches were drawn at random and read in context; 97% were right. Checked by Claude Opus 5, reading each sampled clause in context; not a native speaker. Recall is not measured: this is what the rule finds, not everything the translation contains.
This point is HSK 2 because that is the highest HSK level of the point's own function words, as data/dict.json grades them; a word the HSK lists do not grade sends the point to 'beyond'.
Questions
- Is 就 the same as 便?
- Nearly. 便 is the literary twin and this translation uses both, which is one of the clearest signs that its Chinese sits between the classical language and the modern one.
- How often does it occur in the Chinese Bible?
- 4,166 clauses in the Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified), out of 5,982 occurrences of the words that mark it.
- Which book of the Bible uses it most?
- Genesis, with 331 — followed by Luke (266), Matthew (253), Acts (234).
- How do you know the count is right?
- The rule is: 就 or 才 immediately before a word with a verb sense. 30 of its 4,166 matches were drawn at random and checked one by one; 97% were right. Recall is not measured, so the figure is what this rule finds, not everything the translation contains.
Related reference pages
Take it further
- 97 ready-made vocabulary decks — by HSK level, by book or by topic, exportable to Anki, Pleco or Quizlet.
- Printable 田字格 worksheets — passages with pinyin, meanings and tracing rows.
- The parallel reader — Chinese, pinyin and your own language side by side, every word tappable.
- The dataset behind these numbers — plain JSON, free to reuse with attribution.
How this was measured
Edition: Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified). Every figure comes from one pass over all 1,189 chapters and 31,021 verses, 650,628word tokens in total, using the site’s own segmentation. A construction count is published only when a hand-checked sample of the rule that found it was at least 90% correct; between 70% and that it is published as an approximation, and below it no count is published at all. Generated 2026-09-26.