Limiting scope with "jiu"

Revision as of 05:30, 16 November 2011 by Jonathan.pope (talk | contribs)

就 (jiù) can be used to limit the scope of a comment, used in the following structure:

就 + topic + 来说/而言 + comment

This emphasizes that the speaker is just commenting on that particular topic and nothing else, like "just with regards to" in English. In this sense it is similar to 至于, but is generally used to introduce a new idea, rather than to move on from a previous related topic.

  • 中国 的 独生子女 政策 而言,专家 各 有 各 的 看法。
  • 文化大革命 而言,大部分 的 人 都 认为 那 是 一 场 灾难。
  • 这些 事情 来说,他 没有 错。

When used in this sense, 就 is generally only used in written Chinese.