Everybody ESL

Episode 269 (mini)

Episode Summary

In this mini episode, you will learn how to use the difficult word “just.”

Episode Notes

Episode 269 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you how to use the difficult word “just.” Send your questions about English and your suggestions for future episodes to EverybodyESL@gmail.com! (And let me know if you’d like to record the introduction to a future episode.)

Episode Transcription

Intro

“Hi, everyone. This is Alalu Borom Gawane from Senegal, West Africa. I hope you enjoy Everybody ESL.”

Welcome to episode 269 of Everybody ESL, the podcast for everybody who wants to improve their English, practice their English, or just learn more English. My name is Ben, and I have a mini episode for you today, where I am going to teach you about one English topic. You can subscribe to the Everybody ESL podcast at Apple podcasts, on the Stitcher app, and wherever you find your podcasts. If you like Everybody ESL, leave it a good review so other people can find out about it too. And if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for me, please send an email to everybodyESL@gmail.com. Okay! Let’s get on with this mini episode.

The episode

Today. I want to talk about a very common and very complicated word. This is a very small word that has several different meanings. The word is just. Just. J-u-s-t. Just. 

I want to talk about three different meanings that the word just has. The first meaning of just that I want to talk about is “only” or “simply” or “merely.” Just often means “only, simply, or merely.”

For example, if my friend has baked cookies and has asked me if I want to have any cookies, I could say, “I just want one cookie.” Just one. I just want one. In that case, it means “only one, merely one, no more than one.” 

Native English speakers do something interesting or strange when they use the word just in this way. And you might have heard me say it too. 

What I said was, “I just want one cookie, I just want one cookie” to mean “Only one, no more than one.” I did not say, “I want just one cookie.” Maybe you would think that is the correct way to say this: “I want just one cookie.” I want only one, but often we put the word just before the verb—before the main verb in the sentence. That might not make sense to you, but that is what we usually do. So we would say, “I just want one cookie” to mean “I want only one cookie.” 

We can also use just with this meaning to describe or modify an action. 

Let’s say I’m at my friend’s house, and my friend gets up to get something. And when my friend comes back into the room, I am eating a cookie and my friend says, “What are you doing?”

I could say, “I’m just eating a cookie.” I’m just eating a cookie. And that means “I am simply eating a cookie. I’m not doing anything more than that. I’m not doing anything more important or more serious than that. I’m only eating a cookie. I’m just eating a cookie. That’s it. That’s all I’m doing.” 

The second meaning of just that I want to talk about today is “exactly or precisely.” Just can mean “exactly or precisely.”

You will often hear it with the word right. Just right. That means “exactly right or perfect, completely right, precisely right.” 

So my friend might say, “Well, how is the cookie? Do you like the cookie? How is it?” And I could say, “It’s just right. The cookie is just right.” In other words, “The cookie is perfectly right or exactly right. The cookie is perfect. The cookie is great.” 

The last meaning of just that I want to talk about today is “very recently.” Just can mean “very recently.” 

I could say a sentence like this: “I had just eaten a cookie when my phone rang.” What does that mean? That means “I had very recently eaten a cookie when something else happened. When my phone rang. I had just eaten a cookie.”

Just here means “very recently.” Or maybe you could say, “in the immediate past, in the very nearest past.” It just happened. It happened very recently. 

There are other meanings of just also, but I think these three meanings are enough for one episode.

Outro

This is the end of episode 269 of Everybody ESL. Remember: if you have questions about English, or if you have comments or suggestions for the podcast, or if you would like to record an introduction that I can play at the beginning of future episodes—the same way Alalu recorded the introduction you heard at the beginning of this episode—send an email to everybodyESL@gmail.com. I’ll be back soon with a new episode, and until then, keep going, keep practicing, and keep learning. Goodbye! I’ll see you soon.