Learn 9 ways to use ‘JUST’ in English

Hello. I'm Gill at engVid, and today we have a lesson on the use of one little word of

four letters, "just". This word, "just". And you would think it would be quite simple,

a little word like this. You might "just" use it in one way, but in fact there are many

different ways that the word is used, so it's quite surprising, really, to see how many

uses it has with slightly different meanings each time. So, I have some examples here to

illustrate that. So, one meaning it can have is "recently", when you've recently done something.

You could say, "Oh, I was just thinking. Maybe we could go on holiday soon. I was just thinking."

So, maybe when people are making a suggestion sometimes, they might say, "I was just thinking,

just now, just now", they might say. Or they might say something like, "Oh, I've just seen

my friend in the street, so that would be very recent, a minute ago." So, it can mean

"recently". Okay? But it can also mean "immediately", and it can be in the immediate future rather

than in the recent past. So, "I'm just going to make a phone call." So, maybe we're going

out, but I just... I'm just going to make a phone call quickly, and then we can go out.

So, I'm just going... Because it's in the future, it's about to happen immediately.

I'm just going to make a phone call. Okay?

It can mean... Again, this is all about being quite close to the particular time. So, close

to the time, one thing happening close to the time of something else happening. So,

he arrived just as she was leaving. Maybe somebody arriving home just as the person

they're living with is leaving, which is a bit sad. But he arrived just as she was leaving.

Very close to the time, almost at the same time, really. Okay? Okay, then it can mean

"only". "I'll just be a minute." You could say "I'll only be a minute", so it can be

used instead of the word "only". "I'll just be a minute." If you're going out, again,

you just need... You just need to do something quickly before you go. "I'll just be a minute."

No longer. Okay? So, "I'll only be a minute. I won't be very long." Right?

It can also mean "exactly". So, she's just the person for the job. If you've been interviewing

people for a job, and you've interviewed ten different people, and some of them are more

suitable than others, but there's one person who is exactly the right person for the job.

She's just the person for the job. Okay.

Then, different again, if someone is honest, they are a just person. He's a just man. A

fair... If they're fair and honest, they're not devious, they're not deceptive. He's a

just man. Okay? It's a little bit old-fashioned. I think it's used more in the negative. "Unjust"

is used probably more than the positive "just". You know, if something bad happens to somebody,

and it's not right, it's not fair, you would say that is unjust. So, "unjust" is used more

probably nowadays. Sadly, it's needed a lot, unfortunately, the word "unjust". And it's

like the word "justice". "Justice" and "injustice", that's an associated word. Okay. So, he's

a just man, an honest man.

And then we've got some expressions, like "just in time". We caught the train just in

time. If we'd have been two seconds later, we would have missed it. We got the train

just in time. It's a bit like this, close to the time. Okay. And then if something is

just the ticket, it's not literally a ticket for something, for travelling, or a ticket

for the theatre, or whatever. That's just the ticket. It means that's exactly the right

thing that we need. So, "just" is close to this "exactly" meaning here. That's just the

ticket. It's exactly what we need. Okay. And this one as well is close to the "exactly"

idea. That's just what the doctor ordered. It's not really a doctor. This is metaphorical

again. It's like "ticket". It's metaphorical. What would the doctor order in reality? Maybe

a prescription. The doctor would give you a prescription for something to make you better,

and you trust the doctor to, you know, get you the right thing to make you better. So,

to say that's just what the doctor ordered, it means that's exactly what we need. It's

just the same really as just the ticket, but it's a different way of saying it. And it's

a little bit jokey as well. "Oh, that's just what the doctor ordered." It can be said in

a sort of jokey way. Okay. So, I hope that's been a useful overview of the little word

"just", and I think we could have a quiz on this one. So, if you'd like to go to the website

www.engvid.com and do the quiz and test your knowledge. And thanks for watching, and see

you again soon. Bye for now.