Hi guys,
I have a question. So I’m wondering about that word 丁度 (ちょうど). As I understand it, it means “just” as in like “I just finished this” or “these are just beautiful.” To be precise, I learned this word on Pimsleur Japanese, and some example sentences were statements like:
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私 は 仕事 を ちょうど 終わりました。 – I have just finished work
桜 は ちょうど きれい。- the cherry blossoms are just beautiful
​
Ok here’s my question. These uses of just seem very English to me, and not only are they not the same, the first one means recently and the second one means like really, so might it be possible that same word that is a homonym in English is a homonym in Japanese?
5 comments
[https://jisho.org/search/%E4%B8%81%E5%BA%A6](https://jisho.org/search/%E4%B8%81%E5%BA%A6)
has two meanings:
1. exactly, right
2. just (like); as if; as though
Personally I am more used to seeing the first usage of it.
It’s a sort of subtle word with a lot of potential nuance. I think it’s similar to English “quite” more than it is to “just”. But dictionaries don’t like “quite” since “quite” also has a lot of subtlety and nuance.
The most common usage is “ちょうどいい,” “quite good.”
By the way, it is very rarely written with kanji.
The second sentence is strictly speaking not grammatically correct Japanese because there is no verb, but it could be spoken Japanese with the verb omitted as a contraction. My guess would be it was something like the following, or perhaps a contraction of it:
> 桜 は ちょうど きれい に なりました。
Meaning something like “The cherry blossoms have just become beautiful. i.e. they just bloomed.
Sorry, but the second sentence does not make sense in Japanese.
Since “just” can have multiple meanings, I’m not sure you got the right “just”. ちょうど has the meaning of *”perfect timing”*, or *”perfect amount”*. So, “just finished work” as in “you have very good timing, I was just done with work anyway.” And cherry blossoms are “just beautiful” as in “they are in perfect bloom right now”, not as in “they are so very beautiful.”
> 私は仕事をちょうど終わりました。
I have just finished work, so this is the perfect time to [do something].
> 桜はちょうどきれい。
[We have picked a great day to be in the park,] the cherry blossoms are in full bloom just now.
> ちょうど足りました。
There was just enough [milk left for cornflakes/money in my pocket to pay for my purchase].
> 電車にちょうど間に合いました。
I made it just in time to catch the train.