<blockquote>
  <p>就 in 你现在就去做 functions as the adverb "just". </p>
</blockquote>

<p>你现在去做 = you go do it now</p>

<p>你现在(就)去做 = you (just) go do it now</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Example of 就 = at once; right away:</p>
</blockquote>

<p>吃完飯去 = go after finish dinner</p>

<p>吃完飯(就)去 = go (right away) after finish dinner</p>

<p><em>吃完飯 is the requirement. Once this requirement is met, then 去 occur at once</em></p>

<p>完成工作付工資 = when you finished work, I will pay your service fee </p>

<p>完成工作(就)付工資 = when you finished work, I will pay your service fee (right away)</p>

<p><em>完成工作 is the requirement . Once this requirement is met, then 付工資 occur at once</em></p>

<p>Since 你现在就去做 doesn't include a requirement, 就 doesn't carry the meaning of 'at once; right away'</p>

<p>If it was 你等到明天就去做 (you go do it at once when tomorrow comes); 等到明天(wait till tomorrow arrives) would be the requirement.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-09T06:25:13.817Z
ok fair enough, could you please give me a simple example sentence where 就 is used to mean "at once" or "right away"?
小奥利奥
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-09T06:50:31.107Z
thank you! So then is "你刷牙就去睡觉" proper usage in this case?
小奥利奥
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-09T06:55:12.607Z
You need to indicate the requirement is completed "你刷牙就去睡觉" could mean: "you go to sleep while brushing teeth" the correct format is "你刷完牙就去睡觉",  你刷了牙就去睡觉", " 你刷好牙就去睡觉"  or  "你刷牙之後就去睡觉"
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-09T06:58:28.420Z
thank you! I've learned much
小奥利奥
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-09T07:02:04.213Z
"你刷牙就去睡觉" could also mean "You go to sleep whenever you brush your teeth" .  Similar to "我上课就睡覺" (I sleep whenever I attend school class)
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-09T07:06:25.913Z
I had never seen 完 before so I had to look up its usage, I see you listed "你刷完牙就去睡觉" and "你刷了牙就去睡觉" as proper usage, but from what I've just seen while researching 完 wouldn't it be more correct to say "你刷完牙了就去睡觉"?
小奥利奥
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-09T07:11:48.523Z
'完' and '了'  in '刷完牙'  and '刷了牙' are both verb particle that indicate the verb is completed. you can combine 完 and 了 into '完了' as in "你刷(完了)牙就去睡觉"; but "你刷(完)牙(了)就去睡觉" is an incorrect form
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-09T07:15:16.047Z
But on the Chinese Grammar Wiki it says "If there is an object followed by the verb, 完 must be placed between the verb and the object. To indicate completion, 了 usually goes after the object." And gives "老板 开 完 会 了 。" as an example
小奥利奥
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-09T07:27:36.953Z
Another function of. 了 is as a final particle--  to  indicate the sentence is completed. the only correct way to use "你刷完牙了" is to end the sentence there.
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-09T07:31:20.367Z
E.g. "你刷完牙了？好, 那就去睡吧." (you finished brushing teeth? Good, then you should go to sleep.)
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-09T07:32:40.620Z
thank you, that makes perfect sense
小奥利奥
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-09T07:35:32.993Z
老板开完会就去睡觉了 would be one sentence. and 了 is optional, it serves to indicate the sentence is completed, but we still can tell 老板开完会就去睡觉 is a  complete sentence without adding the final particle 了
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-09T06:23:34.090Z
2019-06-09T06:42:05.713Z
2019-06-09T06:42:05.713Z
Tang Ho
<p>就 expresses <em>emergency</em> or <em>handling something quickly</em>  in Chinese. It's been used when something need to/must/want to be handled at certain point of time. E.g. 我现在就去; 我明天就上班; 我(现在)就来; etc.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-09T23:33:58.737Z
2019-06-09T23:33:58.737Z
dan
<p>Language has built-in redundancy. I think that is in order to make sure the message gets across.</p>
<p>You might ask: When exactly is 'now'?</p>
<p>你现在就去做
Go and do it now, immediately!</p>
<p>In this case, I think 就 is emphatic: 你立刻去做。or 你立刻就去做。</p>
<p>就 is a <a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/19419/a-unified-theory-of-%E5%B0%B1-meaning/21014#21014">Pandora's box</a>!</p>
<blockquote>
<p>At once originally (early 13c.) meant &quot;simultaneously,&quot; later &quot;in one
company&quot; (c. 1300), and preserved the sense of &quot;one&quot; in the word; the
phrase typically appeared as one word, atones; the modern meaning
&quot;immediately&quot; is attested from 1530s.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>'at once' would normally be translated as 赶快， 马上。</p>
<p>This sentence has 就：</p>
<p>天一下儿就冷了。
All at once the weather turned cold.</p>
<p>but 'at once' comes from ‘一下儿’</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-10T06:10:16.917Z
2019-06-10T06:10:16.917Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
Pedroski
<p>I'm trying to find 就 used as "at once" in a sentence so that I can add it to my flashcards but the only sentence I've found like that would be "你现在就去做".
Issue is, 现在 already means "now" so that makes 就 redundant in the sentence doesn't it? Can anyone give me a proper sentence that uses 就 to mean "at once"?</p>

<sentence-structure>
Does 现在 make 就 redundant in "你现在就去做。"?
# Does 现在 make 就 redundant in "你现在就去做。"?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-06-09)

I'm trying to find 就 used as "at once" in a sentence so that I can add it to my flashcards but the only sentence I've found like that would be "你现在就去做".
Issue is, 现在 already means "now" so that makes 就 redundant in the sentence doesn't it? Can anyone give me a proper sentence that uses 就 to mean "at once"?

**Tags:** sentence-structure


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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2019-06-09. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

> 就 in 你现在就去做 functions as the adverb "just".

你现在去做 = you go do it now

你现在(就)去做 = you (just) go do it now

> Example of 就 = at once; right away:

吃完飯去 = go after finish dinner

吃完飯(就)去 = go (right away) after finish dinner

*吃完飯 is the requirement. Once this requirement is met, then 去 occur at once*

完成工作付工資 = when you finished work, I will pay your service fee

完成工作(就)付工資 = when you finished work, I will pay your service fee (right away)

*完成工作 is the requirement . Once this requirement is met, then 付工資 occur at once*

Since 你现在就去做 doesn't include a requirement, 就 doesn't carry the meaning of 'at once; right away'

If it was 你等到明天就去做 (you go do it at once when tomorrow comes); 等到明天(wait till tomorrow arrives) would be the requirement.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: ok fair enough, could you please give me a simple example sentence where 就 is used to mean "at once" or "right away"?  
> **username_0**: thank you! So then is "你刷牙就去睡觉" proper usage in this case?  
> **username_1**: You need to indicate the requirement is completed "你刷牙就去睡觉" could mean: "you go to sleep while brushing teeth" the correct format is "你刷完牙就去睡觉",  你刷了牙就去睡觉", " 你刷好牙就去睡觉"  or  "你刷牙之後就去睡觉"  
> **username_0**: thank you! I've learned much  
> **username_1**: "你刷牙就去睡觉" could also mean "You go to sleep whenever you brush your teeth" .  Similar to "我上课就睡覺" (I sleep whenever I attend school class)  
> **username_0**: I had never seen 完 before so I had to look up its usage, I see you listed "你刷完牙就去睡觉" and "你刷了牙就去睡觉" as proper usage, but from what I've just seen while researching 完 wouldn't it be more correct to say "你刷完牙了就去睡觉"?  
> **username_1**: '完' and '了'  in '刷完牙'  and '刷了牙' are both verb particle that indicate the verb is completed. you can combine 完 and 了 into '完了' as in "你刷(完了)牙就去睡觉"; but "你刷(完)牙(了)就去睡觉" is an incorrect form  
> **username_0**: But on the Chinese Grammar Wiki it says "If there is an object followed by the verb, 完 must be placed between the verb and the object. To indicate completion, 了 usually goes after the object." And gives "老板 开 完 会 了 。" as an example  
> **username_1**: Another function of. 了 is as a final particle--  to  indicate the sentence is completed. the only correct way to use "你刷完牙了" is to end the sentence there.  
> **username_1**: E.g. "你刷完牙了？好, 那就去睡吧." (you finished brushing teeth? Good, then you should go to sleep.)  
> **username_0**: thank you, that makes perfect sense  
> **username_1**: 老板开完会就去睡觉了 would be one sentence. and 了 is optional, it serves to indicate the sentence is completed, but we still can tell 老板开完会就去睡觉 is a  complete sentence without adding the final particle 了  

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### Answer by username_2 on 2019-06-09. Score: 0

就 expresses *emergency* or *handling something quickly* in Chinese. It's been used when something need to/must/want to be handled at certain point of time. E.g. 我现在就去; 我明天就上班; 我(现在)就来; etc.


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### Answer by username_3 on 2019-06-10. Score: 0

Language has built-in redundancy. I think that is in order to make sure the message gets across.

You might ask: When exactly is 'now'?

你现在就去做
Go and do it now, immediately!

In this case, I think 就 is emphatic: 你立刻去做。or 你立刻就去做。

就 is a [Pandora's box](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/19419/a-unified-theory-of-%E5%B0%B1-meaning/21014#21014)!

> At once originally (early 13c.) meant "simultaneously," later "in one
> company" (c. 1300), and preserved the sense of "one" in the word; the
> phrase typically appeared as one word, atones; the modern meaning
> "immediately" is attested from 1530s.

'at once' would normally be translated as 赶快， 马上。

This sentence has 就：

天一下儿就冷了。
All at once the weather turned cold.

but 'at once' comes from ‘一下儿’


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